See BamaDave Run (and Lift)

[K-Court]

Yikes. That is some freaking profile. Is that K2 as in the Himalayas? If so, Censored must be Everest! I hope there will be pics of this!

[hard_rox]

Originally Posted by kmwest

Whoa, I stop regularly reading your log for a while and you become a high-mileage runner? Huh?

My thoughts exactly. Very impressive milage, Dave.

[UpNorth]

WOW! Look at that race profile! It looks like there is more than one place where you are going to have to use your hands as well as your feet. You have to find someone to take pictures along that race route.

[BamaDave]

I don't know whether they have race photographers for Mountain Mist or not. There are supposed to be sections (Waterline) where you have to use your hands, although the elevation profile makes it look like the wall of a cliff or something. Supposedly especially challenging when iced over!!! Fortunately, the chance of icy trails is not that high. It will be a learning experience for sure, especially since I'm tentatively planning to run the Mount Cheaha 50K one month later:



Last year the Cheaha 50K was in March, and I was hoping it would be in March this year. I wish they would do a little better job in our region with staggering major races like this. Mountain Mist 50K, Mercedes Marathon, and Cheaha 50K are all two weeks apart!! That's not enough recovery time if you want to enter all three.

---

WED. 11.8.06
AM RUN

DISTANCE: 9.4 miles
TIME: 1:11:04
AVE. PACE: 7:34/mile

-- Even with a rest day yesterday, it took me awhile to unwind for this one. I need to keep that in mind for Saturday's race - I may need to do more warmup running than I typically do. This is my last run before the 1/2-M.

[BamaDave]

THURS. 11.9.06
AM WORKOUT

A. OVERHEAD SQUATS: 125#: 4; 4; 4; 4

B. SINGLE-LEG ROMANIAN DL's: 125#: 5 ea. leg; 5 ea. leg; 5 ea. leg

C. DB BENCH PRESS: 80# ea. hand: 5; 5; 4

D. BB ROWS: 185#: 3; 4; 5

E. SWISS BALL PUSHUPS: 20; 12; 10

- I was supposed to do this last night (with maybe more leg stuff than I was willing to do 48 hours out from a race) but got drafted into a family board game (Master Labyrinth, a maze game). They no doubt regretted recruiting me in, because I rallied at the last minute and crushed my wife and two daughters for the win!! I might do some more upper body work tomorrow AM.

[K-Court]

and crushed my wife and two daughters for the win!!

And who says guys' t-levels are decreasing?? :p

[kuri]

Good luck in the race Dave. I've been following your prep & you appear ready (haven't posted much cuz I don't know jack about running).

That is one hell of a course! At least you warmed up for the crushing of your competitors by crushing your daughters - remember that feeling

[BamaDave]

LOL Rob! Thanks, Chris! Well you should have seen my 7 year-old talking smack the night before when she wasted me on the board game.

I can feel those single-leg RDL's this morning, but I think that will be cleared up by tomorrow morning. It seems like my hammies are taking more of a hit from the RDL's than from conventional DL's, which makes me wonder about my form after the "shin scraping" thread. I'm wondering whether I squat up the bar more than I should be doing. Might have to work on that when I get back to regular DL's. It could be a reason why my DL progress seems to stall, and I actually wind up being able to back squat more than I can DL.

Race weather is looking pretty good. Supposedly a chance of rain and thunderstorms, but they are expected to be brief and hopefully out of the area by race time. A cold front is passing, so I hope that doesn't mean strong winds (forecast says only 5-15 mph). I was worried about muggy temps. earlier in the week (it's supposed to be 80 or higher here today!), but now the weather gurus say temps. falling through the 50's. Sounds perfect if not too windy!

I've been sleeping like a rock this week, so even if I have trouble sleeping tonight, I should be okay. I don't think I will, since this race is a lower priority than next month's marathon. This Half is a fairly small race (maybe 200 runners??), but it's competitive. There are a number of strong runners in Huntsville. This will be my first race in the Masters (old people's) category and in the 40-44 age division. Looking at results from last year, this new age division looks just as competitive as 35-39.

[twinsavsvikingsfan]

Good luck tomorrow! Any secret goal you are shooting for? Say a 1:15?

With the winds km faced at MCM and what I got, we arranged a little for you, as well.

[UpNorth]

Good luck on race day. I hope the winds stay light for ya'.

[jruck37]

Have fun in your race, Dave!

[BamaDave]

Thanks, guys!! And thanks for sending that wind, Jim. No really!!!

I think an outside goal would be to come in under 1:24, which would mean faster than 6:25 ave. pace. I held 6:21 average for 7.25 miles last Saturday on a hillier route, but I have to run almost 6 more miles tomorrow! On the other hand, I'll be more rested tomorrow than last Saturday. I'm going to try to stay around 6:25 pace in the early miles and see how I'm feeling.

[GG300]

Kick Ass Saturday.

[K-Court]

Best of luck tomorrow, Dave. Looking forward to your race report.

[tridude]

Good luck tomorrow! Run fast, take chances!

[BamaDave]

Thanks, guys!!! My glycogen stores should be reloaded after today's lunch for sure!!

[BamaDave]

FRI. 11.10.06
PM WORKOUT

A. BB SHOULDER PRESS: 120#: 7; 5; 3; 4

B. PULLUPS: +25#: 6; 5; 5; 5

C. DIPS: +30#: 7; 6; 6; 5

D. DB WOODCHOPPERS: 50#: 12 ea. side; 12 ea. side

E. HANGING LEG RAISES: +20# ankle wts: 10; 10

F. INCLINE BENCH SIT-UPS: +30#: 10; 8

-- Meh. I think my upper body was kind of tired from yesterday's stuff, especially the Overhead Squats.

[BamaDave]

SAT. 11.11.06
HUNTSVILLE HALF-MARATHON
HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA

TIME: 1:26:27 (1:34 over last year, though )
AVE. PACE: 6:36/mile

I slept really well last night, which is unusual before a race. Nevertheless, the 5:00AM alarm seemed annoyingly early. I ate some cereal with a banana, a little lighter than I typically eat before a long race. Packed up my stuff and headed out for the 75-mile drive to the race site, loading up on coffee and another banana on the way. I got to the race location about 45 minutes early, which is unusual for me!! It was obvious when I stepped out of the car that a weather change was in progress with occasionally gusty North winds making it feel nippy at times. When I pinned on my bib, I noticed that it wasn't as crooked as usual, and I hadn't stuck myself with the safety pins, so it seemed that I was less nervous than typical before a race.

The race start was pretty uneventful. A little of the typical logjam at the start, but thankfully the Half-Marathon and 5K runners started separately, which avoids a lot of crowding.

MILES:

1 - 6:35. Well, at least I didn't head out too fast, but 6:32 pace will not allow me to beat my time from last year (1:24:53). Nevertheless, I really wasn't certain how much of my race pace I have regained over the past few months since a fairly substantial slowdown, so I didn't want to ramp up too much.

2 - 6:33. Okay, so I didn't ramp up at all!

3 - 6:32. Seemed like I was settling into this pace, about 7 or 8 sec/mile slower than last year.

4 - 6:37. This mile is one of the harder ones of the course, with a long incline that isn't all that bad of a grade, but noticeable. I was happy with the time and thought this would be an opportunity to recover some time, since the next several miles should be comfortable based on what I remembered from last year.

5 - 6:20. Good! Recovering some time and felt really strong overall. There is a tall guy in front of me wearing a shirt from a triathlon who I am slowly gaining on in this mile.

6+7 - 13:08 (6:34 ave pace). I missed the mile 6 marker. I believe that mile was in the low 6:20's, which was a good thing. I was expecting another fast mile for 7, but we turned onto a greenway and into a fairly obnoxious headwind. So I think mile 7 was in the 6:40's.

8 - 6:45. Still in the headwind. Last year I remember enjoying the greenway and thinking it was easy. This year it sucks!! Still slowly approaching the guy in front of me.

9 - 6:25. We turned around on the greenway and were no longer running into the headwind. By this time, though, I know a PR is not likely. But I feel strong!

10 - 6:33. Well, I just can't seem to string together any sub-6:30 miles. I was probably close on this one, but we had to navigate some concrete piles and gravel associated with some construction.

11 - 6:44. UGH!! We're back on a straightaway and straight into the head