Texas Trail 50K is On

I received an email from Roger Soler this morning telling me that the Texas Trail 50K this Saturday at Huntsville State Park has a 10-hour time limit, rather than 9 hours. In the 15 years that I have run this 50K, I have always finished in under 9 hours. However, with the hamstring problem, I an not sure. While my goal is to get in under 9 hours and not do anything to re-injure the hamstring, it is nice to know that I have some leeway. Roger always puts on a good race, so I am looking forward to the challenge. Hopefully, the rain will hold off until Sunday.

Late for Trail Run

I was at a meeting at the Chamber of Commerce this afternoon and was about 30 minutes late for our trail run. For 4 p.m. on a weekday, we had a big crowd. I ran 2 miles on the trails and the rest of the group was finished by the time I got back. I did not hear from Roger Soler today about the 50K this Saturday. I am just not sure I can run it within their new 9-hour time limit.

They Changed the Rules

I am registered to run the Texas Trail 50K this Saturday at Huntsville State Park. This will be my 16th consecutive year for this race. Their web site says there is a 10-hour time limit. I finished in 8:50 last year and figured this year with my hamstring problem it would take me over 9 hours. This evening, I received an email from them saying the time limit is 9 hours. Hopefully, the 10-hour limit is correct. I just emailed Roger Soler of Soler Sports in San Antonio, who is putting on the race, to ask for clarification. I would rather break my 15-year streak for this race rather than chance getting a DNF.
I loaded up on Ibruprofen today and ran laps at the track this evening.

Cold and Windy

It was cold and windy this morning at the park. Good running weather. I ran 7 miles and no trips or falls. That will probably be my last run on trails until the 50K this Saturday.

Leftover Turkey 10K

I am really slow. I finished the Leftover Turkey 10K here in Huntsville this morning with a time of 1:28:05. That's exactly 16 minutes slower than the same race last year. It is an out and back course on the sidewalk along Veterans Memorial Parkway. All hills. And, it rained for the entire race. My old friend, Pete Cahill, was up from Seabrook and I ran much of the race with him. Have not seen him for a long time and we had a good visit.

Lots of Ibuprofen

I'm not sure if I aggravated the hamstring running the 5-miler yesterday, but I was hurting this morning. I took lot of Ibuprohen today and ran laps at the track this evening. I had thoughts of switching from the 10K to the 5K tomorrow, but I will make that decision in the morning. A couple weeks ago, I thought I would be fine by now. A week from tomorrow, I am running a 50K on the trails and then a road marathon the next weekend. Then, nothing long until January1.

Thanksgiving Day

For the 10th straight year, I ran the Run Thru the Woods 5-Miler this morning down in The Woodlands. The first 9 years, all my times were between 51:10 and 58:56. My time this morning was 1:05:00. I realize that I am running slower with my injury; I just don't know how long before the pain goes away and I get my strength back. I have a lot of long runs scheduled in the next few months.

Signed up for the Texas Trail 50K

Today, I signed up for the Texas Trail 50K at Huntsville State Park on December 3. This is the replacement race for the Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance Run, which was held for 19 years and discontinued 3 years ago. This will be my 16th consecutive year for running this 50K (31 miles). It is a good thing that they have a 10-hour time limit; I may need it all. I had my last treatment on my hamstring this morning, but it will take a while to fully heal. December 3rd is also the day that our local 11 and 0 Sam Houston State Bearkats and ranked number 1 in the nation (small colleges) play their first playoff game. The race starts and 7 a.m. and the game at 2 p.m. At best, I will be able to only make the last part of the game.
I went to the track and ran laps this afternoon. Afterwards, I went to Nautilus to work out but they were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Park Roads

We had a nice group at the park this evening. Rather, than taking a chance with tripping and messing up the hamstring, I ran 3 miles on the park roads, while everyone else ran trails. Nice cool weather, following a heavy rain last night (1 inch at my house).

Next to Last Treatment

I had my next to last treatment on my hamstring this morning. The last treatment will be on Wednesday. My insurance will not pay for any more treatments, so I am sure I will be healed then. I took a day off today and just ran 1.2 miles on the roads in town this evening.

Visiting at the Park

This morning, I went out to the park and did a solo run of 4.8 miles on the trails. I ran into a guy hiking the trails and he stopped me to talk. Turns out that he is 79. He was wearing headphones attached to an old Panasonic cassette tape player/recorder. It was the kind that is about a foot long with a handle. He proceeded to tell me some of his life stories and travels. I asked him where he lived and he said that he lived in his van and was very comfortabe in doing so. Interesting guy and he seemed to appreciate my stopping to visit.

Ten Total

I ran the new Running to Shine 5K on the campus in Huntsville this morning. I finished in 32:22. While a few months ago, I would have believed that time, but today I think the hilly course was a little short. I did run with a little less pain, though. Sort of a nothing race. It was put on by a group of college students for some worthy cause. No age group awards and the race was not timed. Nice T-shirt, but the race was not worth $25. After the race, I went out to the park and ran 7 miles alone on the trails. No trips or fall. That gave me ten miles total for the day.

Tomorrow would have been the day

If it had not been cancelled, tomorrow would have been the day of the Reliant Stadium Indoor Marathon in Houston. I was really looking forward to the challenge of running up and down all the ramps. After the other challenge last Sunday on the flat marathon course in Fort Worth, I doubt that I could have made the 6 and a half hour cutoff in Houston, anyway. I had three treatments on my hamstring this week and have two more treatments next week. I am running a 5K on the campus here in Huntsville tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. I like the late starts, since I am not an early morning person.
I went to the track this evening and then went to Nautilus for a workout.

Club Meeting

We had our quarterly Seven Hills Running Club meeting at Margarita's Mexican Restaurant this evening. It was a productive meeting and it is always great to get together with friends and talk about running.
Earlier, I met up with the group at the park. While they ran trails, I ran 2 miles on the park roads.

Treatment Continues

I went in for another treatment on my hamstring this morning and have another appointment on Friday. It was not as sore today and maybe that is a sign it is getting better. My thoughts while running the last 6 miles of the marathon on Sunday was there was no way I was going to run a 50K on December 3. However, this 50K is one of my "streak races" and there is no way I am going to miss my 16th straight year. Now that the Reliant Stadium Indoor Marathon, scheduled for this Saturday, has been cancelled, I have more time to heal. There is a new 5K on campus Saturday morning and I went ahead and signed up.
After Nautilus this evening, I went to the track and ran roads from there. The distance turned out to be 1.7 miles.

Heavy Rain

According to my rain guage, we had just under 2 inches of rain this afternoon. That is the most since at least last Spring. No complaining. Hopefully that much will bring dead grass back to life.
The threat of rain this evening scared most of the trail runners away from the park. It was just me, Phillip and Jason that showed up and the weather ended up being nice. I ran 2 miles on the park roads while they ran trails.

Fort Worth Marathon

After running laps at the track on Saturday, I drove up to Fort Worth for the Fort Worth Marathon on Sunday. I ran the race last year and finished in 5:37:11. With the hamstring problem this year, I thought it would be closer to 6 hours. Was I wrong! It finished 7:09:25. The pain was constant for the entire time. I got so far behind that the aid stations were virtually all closed after 10 miles. The temperature got into the 80's and I had to scrounge for water to make it in. Most of the course was on a concrete or asphalt sidewalk along the Trinity River. Even my MP3 player would not work right. It was stuck on one Texas Tornados song. After hearing it for 10 times, I turned it off and went without music. I suppose a sane person would have quit. However, I have run 563 races and have never dropped out. It's a streak within my streak. To my surprize, they kept the finish line open and gave me an official time and a finishers medal, which can be removed from the ribbon and used as a belt buckle.
After the race, Marilynn and I drove through Dallas and over to Wylie to visit my son and his family. We spent Sunday night there and drove back to Huntsville late this morning. I got back in time to submit my bi-monthly column to the Huntsville Item and go to the doctor for my hamstring treatment. Later this evening, I went to the track and ran laps.

Veterans Day

At 11:11:11 this morning on the day of 11-11-11, I was in the doctor's office laying on a table with wires attached to my hamstring. That particular time won't come around for another 100 years. Hopefully, my hamstring will be healed by then.

Since it is Veterans Day, I will include the above photo taken in 1968 while I was serving with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam. It just does not seem that long ago. I had two brothers who served in WWII and three other brothers have served since. I also have a daughter who served in the Army and a son now in the Marines.

I went to the track this evening and ran laps.

Counting Down

Only a couple more days until my first marathon of the season in Fort Worth on Sunday. I am always apprehensive about running 26.2 miles, but more so this time because of my injured wheels. With the short runs this week and three treatments, maybe I will be okay.
This evening, I ran 2 miles on the roads at the park, while everyone else ran trails.

Another Easy Day

They turned up the power for my electrical stimulation treatments this morning. Hopefully, it will speed up the healing. After working out at Nautilus this evening, I went to the track and ran laps.

Rainy Day in Huntsville

It's not often that I say that. We had a little rain off and on all day. My rain gauge says a quarter inch total. I suppose it will take more than that to bring dead grass back to life.
I spent a couple hours at the state park today with Jennifer Burton, who is directing the first ever Orphan Hope Marathon at the park on February 11. She is working hard to make this a first class event and, based on early entries, it will be a big success. I plan on running it.
Because of a lack of daylight, we moved our Tuesday and Thursday park runs to 4:30 p.m. We had a light crowd today, only retired people and university professors, who probably no-showed for classes they were suppose to teach. Soon after we started running, it started raining hard. I ran 2 miles on the park roads.

Dark Run

I had a meeting at the university this afternoon about an upcoming local 5K and did not get out until about 5 p.m. I went straight to Nautilus for a workout and then for a short 1.2-mile road run in the dark. With the time change this past weekend, I have to get use to the shorter days.
There was a nice story about my Marine son, Tim, on the front page of today's local paper. Click HERE to for a link to the online version. We look forward to his return from Afghanistan.

Strategy

I am not sure what strategy to use to be as ready as possible for the Fort Worth Marathon next Sunday. My thought is just to do short runs everyday this week, take Ibuprohen and get my electronic treatments. I can get by without more distance training; I just need to get the soreness out of my hamstring and improve the strength. If I had to run the marathon yesterday, I doubt that I could have completed it in under 6 hours.
Today, I had family visiting. I went over to the track this afternoon and ran laps.

Rocky Raccoon 25K

I got up at 4:30 this morning and went out to the park for the Rocky Raccoon 25K. A little before 6 a.m., I drove Paula Boone and Sock Monkey Boone down to their road guard position on the course. We hiked the last quarter mile. The 25K race started at 7 a.m. My goal was to go slow and not do anything to make the hamstring worse. Other than running 15.5 miles with a sore hamstring, I seemed to accomplish my goal. I do not recall every running this course in more than 4 hours, but today I finished in 4:34:23. I have 3 appointments for treatment next week and hopefully I will be okay for the Fort Worth Marathon next Sunday. They have a 6-hour time limit, so I have to do better. It is a flat course and I ran it in 5:36 last year.
After finishing today, I drove out to the back side of the park and help take our club aid station down and haul the stuff in. Then, later this afternoon, Ben and I went back to the park and help the race director take down course markings. It was hard staying awake this evening to watch some good football games on TV.

Reliant Stadium Indoor Marathon Cancelled

I received a letter and entry fee refund check today from the Reliant Stadium Indoor Marathon, which was scheduled for November 19. It has been cancelled due to a lack participants. Darn, I was looking forward to the challenge of running 22 laps across the field and up and down the ramps of all three levels of the stadium. I cannot imagine why there was an insufficient number of Houston runners signing up.
My computer would not connect to the Internet this morning and I spent much of today on the phone with AT&T. It turned out that my modem was bad and I had to drive down to Best Buy in Conroe this afternoon to buy a new one. Ran laps at the track when I got back and then went out to the park with James and Ben to set up the aid station in the back of the park that our club will operate for the Rocky Raccoon 50K and 25K tomorrow. Then, we hiked a couple miles on the trails to set up a turn sign at one of the trail intersections. I talked to AT&T again tonight and got connected again.

Perfect Trail Running Weather

It was cool, windy and clear this afternoon, perfect trail running weather. I went out to the park alone this afternoon and ran 3.5 miles in the woods. The hamstring spoke to me the entire distance, so I can imagine what it is going to be like running 25K (15.5 miles) this Saturday. Then, I have a week to prepare for the Fort Worth Marathon. We took our son, Ben, down to the Texas Roadhouse in Conroe this evening to celebrate his 28th birthday. We have family coming in on Sunday for more celebration.

Short Road Run

I had a second treatment on my left hamstring this morning, mowed my grass (the little that is not dead from the dought), worked out at Nautilus and then ran 1.6 miles on the roads in town. My friend, Willie Fritz, was running in an opposite direction and we stopped for a brief visit. Willie is the head football coach for the Sam Houston State Bearkats, which are 8 and zero and ranked number 4 among small colleges in the U.S. Willie is a good runner, too.

Signed up for the Miracle Match Marathon

I just signed up for the Miracle Match Marathon in Waco, Texas, which will be on January 29, 2012, two weeks after Houston and one week before the Rocky Raccoon 50-Miler at Huntsville State Park. I have run it twice before. While it is very hilly (mile 14 to 24), logistically it is easy. No big crowds, park close by and hang out at the hotel next to the start/finish line until the race starts.
My annual park pass expired yesterday, so I went to the park this morning to renew it. They went up 10 bucks to $70. Since I go there about 150 times a year, it is worth it. We had a large group for our Tuesday run this evening. We split up into about 4 groups, each running a different course. I ran 3 miles on the park roads, while everyone else ran trails.