A PR and AG place

I just found the posted results for the Jingle Bell run and yes I PR'd by a second AND I took 2nd place in 45-49 AG. Too bad we left before the awards, would have been nice to add an award to my little collection of 2 awards!

Jingle Bell Weirdness

I waked up several times last night sore from yesterday's hills. I made the decision in the night that I wasn't going to all out race the Jingle Bell 5K this morning but instead use it to loosen up from all of hills yesterday. Eileen was signed up to do the Kid's K and Ruth Anne brought the Chihuahua along to protect us from any Pit Bulls or Rottweilers that might show up. To warm up I ran the course missing a few turns that weren't yet marked getting back just in time for the kid's k. Eileen has this bopping carefree running style and she trotted along in the middle of the crowd of kids and strollers. She was happy to get a candy cane and cruise the "athletes" food line! I lined up a few rows back of the front to avoid getting sucked into "racing" and when the horn sounded set out on what felt like a comfortably fast pace. The mile markers where so far off that I won't record the splits. After a mile or so I began to pass all of the high school kids who invariably go out too fast. Passed a few weekend warriors who still run like high school kids and go out too fast. About 2 miles in, I got passed by a familair looking runner whose name I didn't know. Since I was running easy I just started talking to him as he was passing me and got a couple of grunts in response. Trevor and the Turner gang were a little ways back and we waved at each turn around. Up ahead I heard a really mad chihuahua and figured that had to be Bruno getting after a Bull Mastif or Doberman. Sure enough, Ruth Anne, Eileen and Bruno were on the corner so I waved and tried to look good for a picture. I knew from running the course that we had a short but nasty little hill just before the 3 mile mark. I had two runners within 20 feet so I planned to make my move on the hill assuming I had any move left in my legs. I wasn't breathing hard at this point and when I het the hill I felt like I was shot out of a cannon. I passed botth runners like they were standing still. The guy that had passed me previously tried to go with me but I didn't hear any footsteps after about 30 meters. I was lazy with the watch at the finish and when I finally got around to checking I discovered that I had just PR'd the 5K by 1 second. Then they announced the runner behind me as Chris Guenter. I looked around for Chris so I could introduce myself. I told him that this was the first time I could remember besting him in a race AND that I was on a jury in one of his trials a few years back. We chatted a bit then we all got a bit cold and went to change.

Nap time. Again.

22 miles. Far West. North Hills. Knollwood. Mountain Climb. Mountain Villa. Cat Mountain. Cross Valley Run. Mt Bonnell. Greystone. Ladera Norte. Hidden Hollow. Stoneywood. Woodhollow. Hart La. Ledgestone. Twin Oaks.

Breakfast then Nap. Lunch then Nap. Afternoon snack then Nap.

Test Taking at UT

Last week I was invited to participate in an cardiovascular aging study at UT. The first open date that I could make was today. I tend to ignore the fact that I am now an older runner and was kind of surprised at the reaction I felt when I got to the door labeled "Cardiovascular Aging Research Laboratory - The University of Texas at Austin". I was mainly there to get a "free" VO2 Max test and other fitness level indicators for participating. Anyway, a young girl jumped up when I came in and introduced herself as Allison, as in Allison DeVan, PhD! She looked about as old as my 20 year old daughter to me. Anyway we went over the tests and risks (you can die from the stress of a VO2 Max test you know) and she assured me they had a working AED in the lab. Why is she telling ME this? Anyway, first up was height and weight measurements: 69.5 inches and 146.7 pounds. (The .7 is from my 3oz shoes) Then it was off for a full body scan. I now know for a fact that my percent body fat is lower than the general population. Actually, I am in the 5th percentile of 46 year olds at 14.9% body fat. Interesting side note is that of all the body regions, my legs of all things have the highest percentage of fat at 18%. I'd better up my mileage! This scan also reported bone density. That appeared pretty good as my bone density is 102% of the general YOUNG ADULT population and 105% of the age matched population. I'll have to look into this a bit more to understand what it is really telling me. Interesting factoid: The right side of my skeleton weighs 167 grams more than my left side! Next time I have to knock another runner aside at the finish, I'm leading with the right side! Then it was back to the quiet room for some weird blood pressure test. They placed cuffs on each arm and each leg. Vein imagers were placed on my carotid, radial and femoral arteries then all four cuffs were blown up and left inflated for 2 minutes. That was a bit uncomfortable but bearable. I don't have any printed results but Dr. DeVan assured me that I have flexible veins, good blood pressure and low heart rate. I may have dozed off for some of this portion cause I found sharpie marks on my neck after I got out of the shower later that I don't remember them making. Final test of the day was VO2 Max. GREAT! Only thing is, I had been told not to eat any breakfast or drink any coffee before coming in for the test. Now I need to attempt to beat the treadmill in a race to the death on an empty stomach. Oh well. They inquired about how fast I can run. I asked them how long they wanted the test to last. They said it would be over in less than 12 minutes because they would increase the inclination of the treadmill 2% every 2 minutes starting at 2% and no one made it to 12 minutes. (GOAL) We decided to set the treadmill at 7mph and see how that felt. They stuck a mouthpiece attached to tubes in my mouth, a pin on my nose and told me to just relax and run. RIGHT. I had to focus on not jumping out of my skin more than running during the first 4 minutes. They decided to increase the speed after seeing me run for 1 minute so at 2 minutes they increased the incline to 4% and increased the speed to 7.8mph. Ok, now it requires a bit of effort but no big deal. 4 minutes - 6% no big deal. 6 minutes - 8% feeling good but starting to sweat a bit. 8 minutes - 10% sweating pretty good now but still running relatively easy. 10 minutes - 12% grade NOW that is starting to burn. I could tell right then that it was going to be my legs that went first. I focused on the clock. 10:15, 10:30, 10:45 (they had told me that data points were every 15 seconds) 11 minutes! I felt my form begin to collapse and my legs were getting wonky. I tried to relax but couldn't recover the form. 11:15, 11:30, 11:45 she reaches for the inclination button and dials in 14%. 12 minutes. Legs were completely toasted but I kept pushing. 12:15, 12:30 SHIT. I think I made it to the 12:45 mark before jumping onto the side rails. The tube had to stay in place for another 45 seconds. DON'T PANIC! Finally, "you can take t..." I yanked the mouthpiece OUT, coughing, wheezing, gasping. Allison DeVan, PhD is pleased at the results but informs me that I did not max out my VO2. The preliminary result was 60.8 and she felt that I could have exceeded 62 for sure and maybe hit 64. If I ever do that again, I will set the speed faster so I max out from cardio rather than legs. Anyway, that puts me in the ranks of your average NCAA distance runner. An elite NCAA runner might have a significantly higher result but I'm happy placing alongside your typical 18-20 year old cross country athlete!!! After a couple of minutes I had recovered from the running but my throat was screaming. It is 12 hours later and I am still hoarse and my throat still hurts. I go back in 2 weeks for the second round of testing. I have a special diet for THREE DAYS prior to the test that specifies NO VEGETABLES! You have GOT TO BE KIDDING. Oh well, I'll do my best to survive on the approved meals like Broiled Steak with Steamed Rice or Lemon Pepper Steak on Boiled Linguine. :-) Oh yeah, the biggest no no is wine. No wine with dinner for 3 days! Does AA meet during the holidays?