Races and paces: Run-up to Oklahoma City

In all the fuss about finding a new place to live and a new job, and in between all the races I've done lately, I've almost forgotten about the half marathon I'm running in Oklahoma City April 26.

I feel like I'm under-trained for this one, at least under-trained distance wise. I have not done a run of at least 13 miles since I ran the Cowtown Marathon on Feb. 28 in Fort Worth. I have logged 7 runs of at least 9 miles since then, so maybe that'll help.

I do feel fast, even faster than I was before I ran a 1:36:01 half marathon at Lake Benbrook on Jan. 31. In the last three weekends, I've popped a PR in a 10k and consecutive sub 20-minute 5Ks.

But yes, I know, the half marathon is a different kind of race. Originally, I was going to try to run a 1:30 at Oklahoma City. That's a 6:52-mile. That would qualify me to run the New York City Marathon this fall. All the charts and all the V02Max tables say I have it in me. I'm also back up to 40 miles a week, which is a good maintenance number for me to keep my fitness.

More important, I've hit 6:52 (or better - mostly better) on my tempo-run mile-splits in many training runs. And this morning was no different. After a 1-mile warmup, my mile splits went like this 7:06; 6:39; 7:02; 6:44; and 6:42.

So, yeah, I've got the leg-turnover for a 1:30 half marathon.

I just don't know if I'll have the wind in my lungs and the endurance in my legs.

It's got me wishing I would have turned some of those 9 and 10-mile runs into 12- and 13-mile runs.

9-mile run: Fast and faster

This morning was one of those mornings I wish I could bottle up and sell. My legs were extra fresh since I hadn't run since Saturday's 16-miler. My plan was to do 9 miles: A three mile warm-up, three miles at 10k pace (tempo speed, I guess) and then a cool down.

I'll just let the numbers tell you how I felt.

Mile 1: 8:11 (147 heart rate)
Mile 2: 7:31 (161)
Mile 3: 7:37 (162)
Mile 4: 7:16 (169)
Mile 5: 6:48 (175)
Mile 6: 6:38 (184)
Mile 7: 6:34 (185)
Mile 8: 7;52 (174)
Mile 9: 7:29 (174)

Total time: 1:05:58. Average pace: 7:19 min/mile

My max heart rate is 201, so, during the tempo phase of the run, from Mile 4 to Mile 7, my heart rate percentage ranged from 84 to 92 percent. Amazing what two days rest can do for your legs.

First-mile blues

No matter how far I run _ a brisk 7-miler or a plodding 20-miler _ the first mile is always, always, always the slowest, hardest, most awkward run.

I'm sure its like that for most runners. When you run first thing in the morning, when its still dark and cold outside, your body still thinks you should be in bed, and your digestive system thinks you should still be in the bathroom.

And so I get that. But my first mile has to be slower than most. I've turned out to be one of the faster runners in the Tuesday and Thursday morning Lukes Locker group runs. But on Mile 1, I am absolutely the slowest. Maybe not the whole Mile 1, but at least the first quarter to half mile. My body warms up slower than most.

Take Thursday morning for instance. There were about 15 of us. We took off at 6 a.m. And out of the blocks, I could feel my body saying, "I told you that you shouldn't have had that glass of wine last night. I told you about eating salmon from the Central Market foodie bar. They use that weird oil that makes you sick."

It took a while for my "systems" to kick in. Its like I can feel all the crud melting away in my lungs, and muscles. A few minutes into the run and everyyyyyyyyybody was ahead of me. Everybody.

It usually takes about a half-mile before I start feeling like myself, before my breathing syncs up with my stride and the fuel starts going to my legs. But until then, I'm plodding. During Thursdays 7-miler, I did every mile under 8 except for Mile 1, which took me nearly 9 minutes to complete.

Again, I know this is common to lots of people. The first mile is usually a warm up mile, you get your "second-wind" and then you are into the groove. Its just that on my first mile, I look and feel nothing like the runner on subsequent miles.

Anybody else got those first-mile blues? Some people suggest taking a quick shower before you run to warm up your muscles. What do you guys do to get to that "second-wind" faster?

10k on the 10th

I usually don't post on Sundays. Too tired. Too lazy. Too everything.

But there is something of an Internet running revolution going on at one of the blogs I read. A blogger named Nancy is hosting virtual races and inviting people to post their times on her blog, whether they ran in real races or just workouts.

From the looks of her comments, lots of people are participating.

Saturday was her 10k on the 10th. I did something of a 10k today, though it was a training run. I was still recovering from a 15k I'd run on Saturday, so today, I ran 6.5 miles with the goal of keeping my heart rate under 80 percent max for the entire run.

I knew it'd be a good day when I stepped outside and saw that it was 20 degrees cooler than it was Saturday. 55 degrees is perfect running weather. And even though I was a little sore, I ran every mile, except the first warm-up mile, in under 9 minutes.

6.5 miles in 56:47

My average heart rate for the entire run was 76 percent of max.

Here are the splits:

1 - 9:20
2 - 8:33
3 - 8:34
4 - 8:25
5 - 8:40
6 - 8:50
6.5 - 4:25

Elscorcho run: I've got work to do

Friday, I signed up for the El Scorcho Run, a 25k race scheduled for July 20 in Fort Worth's Trinity Park.

The race starts at midnight.

In Texas, or as we say Tek-Ses, the temperature around midnight in July is still in the mid 80s. So today, I went out for a 15k run (OK, it was supposed to be a 10-miler, but I didn't make it that far) just to test my long-running ability in the heat.

It was 76 degrees and 75 percent humidity.

I tried to run a slow pace so I'd have something left at the end. Five of my first six miles were in 8:40 or worse. But no matter how slow I ran, my heart rate kept climbing, 80 percent of maximum by mile 2 and 86 percent of maximum by mile 6.

By mile 7, I was screaming uncle. I managed a 10 minute mile, felt better on mile 8 (9:25) but worse at mile 9 (10:12).

It was an out and back course, so I had no choice but to keep going. But it wouldn't be running. I walked about half a mile before I jogged the final 1/2 mile to the car.

My final time: 9.65 miles in 1:29:53, a 9:19 pace.

I didn't drink anything during the run. (Big mistake), and I had two glasses of Gnarly Head Zinfandel the night before (Another big mistake. It wasn't even all that good).

So I got two months to train for El Scorcho. And though I didn't feel too good about today's run, it did put the wraps on a 30-mile week, the most miles I've run in a week since I ran 41 miles the week of Feb. 4.