I only run on days that end in a "y."

 Last day in Las Vegas.  I finally had a pretty good night's sleep - about 7 hours and I only woke up once at 4:30.  I fell back asleep when my alarm woke me up at 6:00 am.  I probably could have sleep another hour or more. 

I got on the road about 6:30 and the sun was already coming up.  It was 82 degrees starting out.  The good thing is the low humidity.  Half way through the clouds came through and provided some cover from the sun. I felt very sluggish on the first half, definitely the first 4-5 miles and then I found my groove. Turning around early did cross my mind more than once. 

I had planned to run 14 miles.  But I got into a zone and when I looked at my watch my mileage was at 7.7 miles so I ran a bit further to a gas station to buy some Gatorade.  I loaded up my two fuel belt bottles and headed back.  I decided to try to maintain a 3:10 MGP pace on the way back. I tacked on a bit coming back to make it an even 8 miles.

First half of the run A/B miles:  8:35, 8:26, 7:57, 8:08, 8:03, 7:53, 7:51, 7:50.

Turned around and came back into town @ MGP pace:  7:17, 7:24, 7:14, 7:09, 7:04, 7:15, 7:15, 7:12.

Can't wait to get home and see the family!!

6.5 easy miles this morning.  Glad to be back in Austin, although I could do without the allergies which are hitting me already.  Miles around 8:55 pace.  

Also came upon a park a little under 2 miles from the house.  It has a nice crushed granite path but it is only a fourth of a mile.  Still, because of the softer surface I decided to go around a few times, ended up with 3 miles then back home on the pavement.

Woke up to windy conditions and 72 degrees with 70% humidity.  Blah.  My plan was to do 8-9 aerobic base miles but at about 2.5 I thought I would add some tempo miles.  I will be on the road tomorrow morning and won't get a quality workout in.  I ran 4 tempo pace and it was tough.  High mileage week last week coupled with allergies and this morning's heat and humidity made for a tougher than expected run.  I stopped briefly at 1.8 miles to take a drink from a faucet and at mile 3 I wanted to stop completely but managed to tough the last one out anyway.  Not as fast as I wanted.  Definitely not one of my better workouts.  

Easy miles:  8:05, 7:45, 7:42, .15 @ 7:37 followed by 4 tempo miles:  6:45, 6:48, 6:45, 6:40 with 1 cool down mile @ 7:37 pace.

Still not feeling too great today.  I woke up early and went for a 4 mile a/b run - average pace 7:50's.

I then drove up to Denton to the University  of Mary Hardin Baylor.  I signed up to be a part of a double-blind study that will show the effects, if any, of the consumption of the antioxidant Revertisol on endurance runners.  So today I had to get a DEXA body scan to determine my body fat (11%) along with a V02Max test.  The V02Max test consisted of running on a treadmill @ 7:00 pace with the incline increasing by 2% every 2 minutes after a 1 minute warm-up.  I got to 8% and 9 minutes before stopping.  I probably could have gone a bit further but it hurt.  She had told me that the results were not being used as part of the study but to determine what speed I need to run part II of the study at.  So my V02Max has not changed since I last did the test 2 years ago.  However, she said that was still pretty good considering that it will decline a few % points a year with no training as we age.  Certainly my running economy has increased dramatically so I am not letting the V0@Max get to me too much.  Of course we all like to see improvement.  As I said, I probably could have pushed the test harder but I don't think the result would have increase by more than 2-3. 

Part II of the test is to go back in two weeks and run on an 8% decline for 45 minutes (to simulate the muscle damage of a much longer run) while taking 3 blood samples.  Should be fun. :0

I felt very tired driving back - I wonder if it is from the allergy tabs I took last night.  It was hard to stay awake in the office as well.  I figured the only way to cure that was to go for a run.  So I ran 7 aerobic based miles on the soft trail loop near to the office.  Overall 7:54 pace. 

Nice cool morning - I keep thinking we won't get any more of these and then we do.  It has to end sometime.

Still not feeling too great.  I had ideas of getting in 10-12 miles but when I started running my legs were not feeling too great.  In fact, my calves were quite sore.  It took me a minute to figure out that it must have been the treadmill testing that did it.  

So I turned my run into a slower "recovery" run and ran 7 miles in the 8:20's. 

This has probably been done before but thought about this on the run while I was running a 7 mile "recovery" run.

 You know you are an endurance runner when:

You run a 7 mile "recovery" run.

Your long run was "only" 16 miles.

[Please feel free to continue...]

OK - so last night after work I felt terrible!  My wife had a work function to attend so I had the 2 kiddos.  When I took my 3 year old daughter to bed I checked my temp - it was 101.  Ouch.  I was quite certain there was no way I was going to run this morning.

I woke up at 4:30 am and I thought I felt much better. ( I went to bed just after 9 pm so I got some good solid sleep.)  I feel back asleep and woke up again - with no alarm - at 5:15.  I got up, knowing that I should stay in bed, and put my running gear on.  I felt pretty good except for a bit of a cough.  So much better than the previous evening.  

I drove downtown, did 2 easy warm up miles on the trail and met the group at the Austin High track.  I decided to stick with some faster guys and see if I could hang.  The workout chart says I should be running 800m repeats in 2:40-2:50.  I have never run consistent repeats below 2:50 before, usually it is the last one when I drop it.  What is great about being in the running group is there are always faster runners that you can hook up with to push you. 

Anyway, the first 3 went pretty easily, the 4 a bit harder, the 5th the legs were really complaining as well as the lungs, and the 6th was a tough-it-out-this-is-the-last-one kinda repeat.  I was shot after the 6th one.  1:30 walking recovery in between repeats.

Splits: Note: Paces per cool running pace calculator.

800m @ 2:47 (5:36 pace)

800m @ 2:48 (5:38 pace)

800m @ 2:44 (5:29 pace)

800m @ 2:46 (5:33 pace)

800m @ 2:49 (5:39 pace)

800m @ 2:46 (5:33 pace)

 2 easy miles on the trail back to the car. 

My wife was not happy with me when I came back, that's for sure! She thinks that running while sick is idiotic.  My daughter locked me out when I came home, too.  So much for a nice home coming! :-)

BTW - there is hope for us aging runners!

Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine
April 10, 2011

Intense Training Maintains Endurance in Older People

        Last Saturday, a 75-year-old man and a 69-year-old woman
rode a tandem at the Sebring Tandem Rally, covering 51 miles at
an average speed of 18.9 miles per hour.  We used all the energy
we had trying to stay with the bikes in front of us.
        You lose power and strength with aging, but you keep most
of your endurance.  The limiting factor to how fast you can run or
ride a bicycle is the time that it takes to move oxygen from your
lungs into your muscles.  This is measured with a test called
VO2max.  The higher the number, the faster you move oxygen into
muscles.
        Dave Costill of Ball State University studied marathon
runners in their prime in the late 1960s and then again 25 years
later. In 1970, Derek Clayton of Australia held the world record in
the marathon at 2 hours and 8 minutes.  In 1992, his orthopedic
problems limited his running to 3-4 very fast miles per day.
His VO2 max remained the same.  His maximum heart rate slowed
from 188 beats per minute at age 28 to 176 at age 50.  He gained
only 2 kilograms of weight going from 73.1 kg to 75.2.  Other
world class marathon runners who continued competing over the
25 years had an average drop in their VO2 max from 70 down to
65, a small reduction.
        The world records for the marathon and mile for all ages are
less than 10 percent slower for 50-year-olds, and a rapid decline
in age group world records starts only after age 70.  This applies
to both men and women.
        You have to work gradually into any exercise program.  If
you are thinking of starting an exercise program or increasing its
intensity, you probably should check with your doctor.  Intense
exercise can kill people with blocked coronary arteries.  Training
for older people uses the same principles as those used by
younger ones.  You train intensely three days a week, and go 
slowly on the other four days.  We average close to 20 miles per
hour on our 25-mile rides on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
and only 10-12 miles per hour on our four recovery days.
        As you age, you lose muscle fibers and strength.  However,
if you train intensely, you can maintain the size and number of
mitochondria in muscles that use oxygen to convert food to
energy, which helps you to keep your ability to move fast over
long distances.

Had a 101.5 fever this morning.  Went to the Dr - she had me tested for H1N1 and walking pneumonia.   Fortunately, both tests came back negative.  Still, no running today and I will probably take tomorrow off as well.

Not feeling well today.  No reason to push things and run.  I will chalk this week up as a recovery week anyway.  "One day does not a runner make." Me.  

It was nice change to sleep in and then spend the morning with my family. 

Well, what a difference a day makes. A couple rounds of antibiotics does not hurt either.  I am still not 100% but maybe 90%.  I woke up around 6:10 and was on the road at 6:35 am. It was warm and windy but the clouds were out so that helped later on.  Reminded me of the Austin marathon.  I also read that running at a 6 minute mile pace generates an 11 mph head wind. (Daniel's Running Formula)  Not sure what it is at other paces but the point when running into a wind a runner runs against the force of the wind plus the self generated wind.  I suppose this is why when running with the wind at your back you don't feel it as much since you are running away from it - so if a runner is running 7 mph and the wind from behind is 15 mph then is the runner only getting an 8 mph push?  Seems right to me since when the wind is at my back it never feels as strong as when running into the wind.  

 I don't have my Garmin as I left it in the office.  I figured I would run using my wrist watch as an estimate of how far I had run vs. time.  In the end it worked well.  I had an idea of the pace as I was running well.  I knew I was running at a good clip around miles 8-9 as I passed some other runners that I had seen in the distance with ease.  

The last couple miles were a struggle.  I did not eat anything and did not take anything with me but water.  I knew that my glycogen stores were empty or quite near.  I did this purposely in order to train my body to run at a fast pace while using fat stores as fuel.  

 I came home and used mapmyrun.com to map out my course - it said I ran 17.8 miles.  My time on the road was 2:08:00 and using the cool running pace calculator my over all pace was 7:12. Seems fast and it is an estimate, but I knew I was going at a pretty good clip. 

Cool morning??  Initially it felt good but 67 and high humidity isn't so wonderful.  Anyway, ran for 60 minutes.  No Garmin but I would say 6.5 miles at a very easy/recovery pace.

Medium long run this morning.  The weather was cool - 48 degrees - I actually had to put on a singlet.  :-)  I ran 3 miles and met up with a running buddy, Kevin, at a neighborhood park.  He wanted to get some miles in but wasn't going to run as far as me.  He mapped out a 7-8 mile course with plenty of hills.  It was great having someone to run and talk with.  The miles went fast.  We went our separate ways again at the park.  I wanted to get 15 miles in but time wise I knew this was not going to happen.  I figured 14 was doable but it would cut it close.  I had to be back at home a 7:35 to take my son to school.  When I hit 13 miles I had about 6-7 minutes to make it so I tacked on the extra mile taking the long way instead of turning and heading home.  I dropped the pace to sub 7:00 the last mile but had to contend with a long hill climb.  When I got to the house the watch beeped at 14 miles and I walked in at 7:35 on the nose.  Could not have timed it any better.

Overall pace of the run was 7:51.   [8:15, 8:05, 8:09, 8:20, 7:52, 7:55, 7:57, 7:34, 7:26, 7:46, 7:47, 7:50, 7:53, 7:04.]

6.5 recovery pace miles - have a bit of soreness in my right quad that won't go away.  I need to get out the roller tonight and roll it out.

Overall pace: 8:45

In other news Saucony is coming out with the new version of the Kinvara's. That is good news.  Why? Because the current version is being discounted, of course.  I ordered 2 pairs from runningwarehouse.com for $59 a pair.  I may have to buy a couple more pairs!

My current pairs are approaching 400 miles and still holding up well - much better that I imagined when I first bought the shoes.

Warm and humid morning - what a difference a day makes. Oh well, need to get used to it. Ran 3.5 easy and met up with the group at the Austin High track.

We did drills followed by 4 sets of 600m fast, 200m jog, 400m fast, 200m jog, 200m fast, each set separated by 2 min. recovery. I also tacked on one more 400m at the end. I wanted to run 5 sets but it was not happening - my legs were tired and I had to get back home.

I ran 2.25 miles back to the car. All in all a nice little quality workout.

Oh, so much for body composition theory of having to be 5'6" and 140 lbs to be fast - there was a runner with us who is maybe 6'2" - 6'3" and 20-30 pounds heavier than me - he killed us by 4-6 seconds per repeat. Some just have "it."

Set 1:

600m in 2:03 (5:29 pace)400m in 1:22 (5:29 pace) 200m in :41 (5:29 pace)

Set 2:

600m in 1:59 (5:19 pace) 400m in 1:20 (5:21 pace) 200m in :36 (4:49 pace)

Set 3:

600m in 1:58 (5:16 pace) 400m in 1:20 (5:21 pace) 200m in :38 (5:05 pace)

Set 4:

600m in 1:56 (5:11 pace) 400m in 1:17 (5:09 pace) 200m in :38 (5:05 pace)

Set 5:

400m in 1:20 (5:21 pace)

 55 minutes on the indoor cycle during my break - medium to hard effort.   Equivalent 4 mile run.

What a gorgeous day!  Ran 7 recovery miles @ 8:55 pace around the soft trail loop by work.  

Well,

I don't know what to make of these cool mornings.  I met up with the group at 6 am.  Many runners are in Boston or on their way, and there is also a big 1/2 today.  So it what a sparse group today.  Somehow I ended up running with a couple of the faster runners.  In a way that is good since it pushed me a bit, but in another way not so good since I deviated from my plan.  I wanted to run 8 easy followed by 10 MGP but after the first 2 miles I started out too fast.  We ran the Mt. Bonnell route - well, it's no mountain but quite steep for Texas standards. It's a really killer climb and the route to and from have quite a few hills as well.  

I managed some sub 7:00's but my pace was kinda all over the place.  I'll blame the hills and high mileage this week, and some mental weakness on my part.  Overall a pretty quality run.  I seem to feel pretty comfortable around 7:05-7:10 pace.  

Splits:  8:43, 8:21, 7:27, 7:20, 7:23, 7:10, 7:39 (Mt. Bonnell climb), 6:44, 6:57, 7:02, 7:12, 7:05, 7:07, 7:09, 7:17, 7:06, 7:22, 7:10, .25 @ 6:59. 

Ah, that's more like it - 72 degrees and humid at 5:20 am.  I miscalculated the time to run 10 miles so I had to pick it up and cut off a bit at the end to make it back in time to help my wife get the little one ready for school.  I made it, barely.  

All miles between 7:57 and 8:08.  The first couple were hard with my legs complaining the whole way but I found a good stride around mile 4.

Went out at lunch for 5 miles around the soft trail loop near work.  8:00's - 8:15's.  It was hot, sunny, and humid.  Fortunately, 1/3 of the trail has trees for shade.

72 degrees, high humidity.

I wanted to do a tempo run today and thought I would try a workout from Jack Daniels marathon training program.  His program is almost exclusively tempo and MGP runs.  The plan was to run 2 miles easy x 3 miles @ tempo pace (6:30's for me) x 1.5 easy x 3 miles tempo and then 2 miles easy.  

Now I know what the experts say about running too much or too hard and easy days in that it will compromise the key workout.  After the first easy mile I could tell I would have trouble with this workout - my legs were tired.  But after 2 miles I decided I would hit it and see what I could do.  I had trouble dropping the pace significantly.  I was running into a headwind and it was warm, but still, this should not be that big of a deal.  Well, I finished up those 3 miles and thought about shuffling back home but after 1.2 easy miles easy I thought I would try it again.  The next 3 miles were somewhat easier than the first three and I managed to hold in the 6:40's and the last one was at 6:38 so I felt a bit better.  Then it was 2 easy @ 7:40's. 

2 easy

3 x tempo (6:50, 6:44, 6:45)

1.20 easy

3 x tempo (6:44, 6:49, 6:39)

2 easy

Tomorrow will definitely be a recovery day!

Ran the trail and soft trail loop near the office.  Parks and Rec has been putting new wood chips/mulch down on the wooded portion of the trail.  There are some spots that are 2-3 inches deep.  Nice and soft but takes quite a bit off of pace.  I don't mind if I am running recovery though, in fact, I welcome it.  7 miles recover - just what the legs needed.  Tomorrow were are doing 400's, hope my legs are up to it.

I have to share this report from a friend who just ran Boston in 3:01 - a 9 minute PR.  It's a hoot, and his training was unconventional.  I remember when I told him that Salazar is the one who said "the only difference between 10k training and marathon training is the addition of a long run." At the time he was only focusing on 5-10k training and told me he was going to run Boston.  He just added a couple longer runs and did just one 20 mile run, but did a lot of tempo and interval work.

I this whole running/training thing is absolutely fascinating.   Goes to show that there are many ways to skin a cat.

Obviously, one needs to live in Austin and train with us to understand everything in his story, but the crux of the story is there:

 Here it goes:

....3:01:25. A 9 min PR and 13 min faster than Boston 2010. I'll take it! (!!!)

Training? Well, I have been training heavily since December, just not marathon training. Then around maybe end of Feb. some friends ganged up on me and said I HAD to run Boston or else. Ok, not really. "It'll be fun!" they said. "Party all weekend!" "You don't even need to train for it." Ok, ok! Game on!

But I was tired of getting injured training for Boston (2/2 up 'till that point). The grind and time demands of full-on marathon training seemed to be the culprit, combined with my bodily quirks or size or whatever, and since going part-time to get in all the cross-training required to stay whole wasn't really an option, a little switch-up seemed in order.

So only half-joking, and with the deepest apologies to G, I present to you...

A Fool's Guide to Training for Boston

1. Register for Boston, but change your mind and decide not to run it. Train for 3M and 5k's instead!
2. * Meet with Gilbert, get advice on how to get faster (on halves) and reduce injuries. (Tempo, strides, build foot strength, gym, ...)
3. Crazy 400's & 800's with Richard & Karen, until brainwashed into thinking they're actually fun recreational activities.
4. Core punishment by Carrie & Richard. Gym. Spin 'till dizzy. Rinse, repeat.
5. Show up for Boston pace runs, but make them tempos!
6. Run, don't walk, AWAY from any and all Lollipops (except the strawberry and grape varieties).
7. Do not exceed 40 miles/week. If violated, report to Pieter for remedial P.T./punishment.
8. Meriden @ 5k pace 'cause Coach says it'll make you grow up big and strong.
9. Zilker miles with Lee and Lisa. Pretend that your head isn't about to explode keeping up with them, then skip out after #3.
10. Tempo when bored, tempo for fun, tempo just to get that crazy seeing-exploding-stars kinda loving feeling.
11. Foolishly run one 20 miler - with Farshid, into a headwind (both ways), over every dang hill in town. Invade Albert & Karen's spotless remodeled house w/ muddy shoes just to get a break. Wrap up with cold rain.
12. Train with two uber-fast Scenic-loving pregnant gals.
13. Cookies. Lots and lots of hot, chewy, gooey cookies.....

Warm and very humid - felt like I came out of a shower after mile 2.  Summer has arrived.

Ran 1.5 miles to the annex and met up with the group and then ran 1.5 to Austin High.  The first warm up mile my legs were tight and tired but by the time we hit the track I felt pretty good.

On the menu today was 400's - 5 @ 1:25, then 5 @ 1:23 and then 5 @ 1:20.  I love 400's because I know the pain is short lived. :-) 

I tacked on one more by myself to make it 16 and an even 4 miles.  The first 5 we could not get into a groove but the next 2 sets we were dead on for each repeat.

5 x 400 in 1:23-1:26 (5:33-5:46 pace)

5 x 400 in 1:23's (5:33 pace)

5 x 400 in 1:19-1:20's (5:19 - 5:21 pace)

1 x 400 in 1:17 (5:09 pace)

2 miles easy back to the car.

Plan on hitting the gym later for some core work.

Afternoon run: Ran 3.25 miles to the Y, did a quick core and leg workout, 2.25 back to work.  I was able to run on the grass between the sidewalk and the road, or next to a road, and found another nice crushed granite pathway around a neighborhood.  I was probably able to run about 80% of the run on soft surfaces.]

Easy - recovery paced miles @ 9:00 pace.  Warm and muggy.  

70's and humid at 6am.  Went out with the group.  By mile 2 we were running in the 7:50's, dropped to 7:40s, most of the rest of the run 7:30's.  My watch's battery went out before I even started.  I need to check that the night before a run!  

At mile 7 I parted ways with my small group as they were going to run 14.  I ran the rest of the route by myself.  It was lonely.  At least the water and gatorade was out every 3-4 miles.  I needed it today.  I must have lost 3-4 pounds in water.   The last couple miles were hard but that should be the way it is.  I kept telling myself the "magic" happens in the last 2 miles.  

At the Mary Hardin Baylor sports lab finishing up the study.  I walked in and saw the treadmill's back end up on jacks.  The decline was 12% with the goal to induce as much muscle damage as possible in the least amount of time.  So instead of running 20 miles flat they jack up the back of the treadmill and have the runner go 45 minutes. 

I ran 5.5 in 45 minutes @ 12% decline.  I had my blood drawn 4 times, too.  Oh well, I have to keep life interesting. :-)

I will go back out a lunchtime to get some more miles in.

Warm and humid during lunchtime - 5.5 around the soft trail near the office.  8:06 overall pace.  Fortunately, the clouds were out.

Warm and humid this morning.  My plan was to drive to downtown and run Town Lake trail and then jump into Barton Springs to cool off.  I woke up early enough but messed around enough that by the time I got in the car it was really too late.  I hemmed and hawed and actually drove down the block but looked at my watch again and decided I really did not have enough time to drive downtown and get in the mileage I wanted.  So I drove back home and ran from there.  

My legs were sore from yesterday's downhill treadmill session but all in all not too bad.  I ran the first mile slow and then picked it up trying to stay in the 7:50's with the intention of running the last 2 miles fast.  It was a good run but tiring, especially in the heat.  Next week is a recovery week - I can't wait.  My body is telling me it needs some downtime to repair itself.

First mile 9:14, then 8:09, 7:51, 7:48, 7:51, 7:57, 7:43, 7:45, 7:38, 7:37, 7:00, 6:43.

Warm and sunny but the dry wind from the north made it a pleasant run in the end.  I managed to run about half the run on soft surfaces.  Overall pace 8:20.  

I am sure all the Texans will be talking about the wonderful cool weather this morning.  It was high 50's to start.  I drove downtown and parked at Barton Springs pool.  I ran 3 miles very easy - 9 minute overall pace - to the Austin High Track and met up with the group.  Today was 1000m repeats with 200m active recovery in between.  My legs were still a bit sore from Monday and my left calf particularly.  However, after the slow warm up miles it was fine.

I ran 6 x 1000m.  The small group I run with only did 4 so I ran the last 2 alone.  After the 1000 repeats I ran 5 x 200m strides with 100m slower pace in between.  I have never run 1000's this fast before.  I looked at what I had run them in March and they were in the 3:42 range.  Today the group pushed it even more.  I felt fine - I wasn't breathing that hard.  Another runner that has also been pushing himself and who has been running with us was right behind me during these repeats and was huffing and puffing like crazy.  My only thought was that he needs to run more mileage and get that aerobic base up there a bit more.  Anyway, here are my splits:

1000m in 3:42 (5:57 pace)

1000m in 3:34 (5:44 pace)

1000m in 3:33 (5:42 pace)

1000m in 3:30 (5:37 pace)

1000m in 3:32 (5:41 pace)

1000m in 3:33 (5:42 pace)

5 x 200m strides

Ran 2 miles back to the car @ 7:40's pace.

Moderate to hard effort on indoor cycle for 60 minutes.  Session was packed with fun - hills, hill sprints, flat sprints, more hills.  Great way to further tax the aerobic system without the pounding.  Putting down 4 miles for the effort.

Beautiful day - 80's with nice breeze.  No Garmin but I know the thr route.   7 recovery miles.  I ran about 4 miles on grass or soft surfaces.

New research shows the value of protein in aiding recovery and performance.  I always have a homemade protein/carb elexir after a run.  It seems to help me recovery quicker.

Dear Dr. Mirkin:  What should long distance runners and
bicycle racers eat to help them recover faster?

         During their recovery periods, they should eat huge
amounts of foods loaded with protein and carbohydrates. Since
the 1930s, athletes have known that they can recover faster
from hard workouts by eating extra carbohydrates: fruits,
vegetables, and whole grain bakery products and pastas. The
carbohydrates refill their muscles with glycogen (stored
sugar).  Sugar requires less oxygen to fuel muscles during
exercise than fat or protein. Anything that reduces oxygen
requirements during exercise allows the athlete to move
faster and stronger, and have greater endurance.
         Recent research from the University of Birmingham in
the UK shows that athletes can recover even faster if they
also take in extra protein (Medicine & Science in Sports &
Exercise, April 2011).  This is the first study to show that
several days of high-protein feeding hastens recovery during
several days of high-intensity training.   It doesn't make
any difference if they get their extra protein from dairy
products, meat, fish, chicken, beans, seeds or nuts.  The
study showed that trained male cyclists could ride
significantly faster time trials on their very intense days
when they were given a diet with extra protein. The high-
protein diet contained 3 g protein/kg/day) and the normal
diet contained 1.5 g protein/kg/day.
         All athletic training is done by stressing and
recovering.  The athlete takes one or more intense workouts,
and then when he feels very sore, cuts back on the intensity
of his workouts for a while. Anything that will help him
recover faster will allow him to take his next series of
intense workouts sooner and he will become stronger, faster,
and have greater endurance.  Previous research has shown that
taking extra protein soon after finishing an intense workout
can hasten recovery (Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2004;287
(4):E712-20).  This is explained by the fact that a high
carbohydrate load immediately after finishing the intense
workout causes the pancreas to release large amounts of
insulin which drive the extra protein (amino acids) into
muscle cells so they heal faster (J Nutr. 2000;130(10):2508-13).

Warm - 73 - 75 degrees and humid - nice cloud cover though.  Started at Barton Springs and ran an easy 1.5 and met up with the group.  4 of us got behind the lead group and kept up with them as much as possible.  Miles 2-12 were hills and hills and hills.  This was a very tough course and with the weather and the hills a tough run.  Add to that the accumulation of miles over the past 3 weeks and my legs were really, really tired by mile 13 and I started to fade a bit.  I just ran 16 as an easy cool down mile.  

Paces: 8:59, 8:35, 8:00, 7:32, 7:19, 7:09, 7:09, 7:13, 7:09, 7:06, 6:57, 6:49, 7:11, 7:23, 7:35, 8:25. 

 Jumped in the springs afterwards - a cool 68 degrees.  It felt great.