TEXAS Paul - Out to Pasture - Healing

Austin AT&T Marathon today.  Beautiful day.  This was Daniel's first marathon.  Karen F., Lynn, and I met Daniel at 6:20 in Starbucks on 6th and Congress in Austin.  Had a fun pre-race time, and then when the race started I ran the first mile with Daniel and Karen.  I had my digital camera and my video camera, and took bunches of pictures, pre-race, during the first mile, at mile 5, and then I ran the last half of the marathon with Daniel.  Got lots of great video and pictures of Daniel's race.  Karen had to catch a plane to Paris this afternoon so she couldn't stay for the finish.

Daniel overcame some serious foot pain in the left foot during the last few miles.  He overcame the pain and the stress and finished a grat marathon.  Karen H. joined us during the last few miles, as she had run the last half with Joe B.  She ran back and joined us.

Daniel weighs 271 lbs.  He had lost 40 lbs during his training.  As he ran the race, his heart rate would bounce at 174 and peak at 180.  We ran 6 minutes, then walked 1 minute.  By about mile 17 we changed that to run until the 6 minute beep, and then walk until his heart rate got down to 150 which usually extended the walk break for about 30 seconds.  I can't imagine running 26.2 miles with my heart rate bouncing at 174 for most of the race.  As he would tell me his heart rate I would check mine and it would 30 or 40 beats lower than his.  Amazing he could keep up such a great effort.  He is actually in the best shape of his life, and has made some great life changes that will benefit him the rest of his life.  He even has Pikes Peak Marathon on his radar screen, perhaps for next year.  I predict a year from now he will weigh another 40 lbs less than he does today. 

Now Karen H. and I are focused on Boston in 2 months from this weekend.  Her friend Carey ran her first marathon today and she finished in 3:31.  What a great first marathon.  Carey may get signed up for Boston and join us as well. 

Tam ran a great marathon for this tough new Austin Marathon course.  He said he finished at about 3:45.  His goal was 3:30, but on this tough course this was probably the best effort he has ever done.  He almost set a PR, that had been done on the much easier Austin Marathon course, the old downhill one.  Way to go Tam.  For some reason I don't see Tam's results on the official web site, so I wonder what that means? 

We really had a great time today helping our running friends with their marathon.  The post marathon talk and cheers with Donnie were great.  We have awesome video and pictures after the race.  The finish line video was really good too.  My son is going to take the video and the digital pictures and make a DVD for Daniel. 

Celebration time for the marathoners.  Ran at McNeil HS track with Donnie's group.  Lots of celebration with all those who ran the marathon yesterday.  Tam used his own Championship chip for the race, but we believe he did not put the chip ID on the registration form, so he is going to try to get the race site to fix it so his race results will show up on the results web site. 

Daniel made it to the track Monday night, and we all celebrated with him for his tremendous accomplishment.  Got more pictures and video at the track last night for the DVD my son will do.  What a celebration.

Got 4 easy miles of running in with Karen H.  Felt pretty good.  The right plantar tendon behaved reasonably okay.  Currently doing 7mg of the prednisone medication for the muscle issues.

Boston is 2 months away from today.  Looks like my goal at Boston is just to run fast enough to qualify for next year, instead of pushing for a PR.  This plantar tendon is an issue and the muscle disorder has limited the total training effort.  But, if I run fast enough to qualify for next year's Boston, that should be enough. 

Beautiful evening in Texas, temp about 67 degrees, sun setting, moon 1/3 full, sky clear with stars.  Ran at Florence HS.  4 medium effort miles.  Three high school track boys showed up and chased me on my 5th mile, giving me about a 100M head start.  They were closing on me as I rounded the last curve of the track, so I sprinted in the last 75M.  What fun. 

Boston is now less than 2 months away.  I'm gradually feeling better and better.  Doctor visit this week for the Polymyalgia Rheumatica and he said to stay with the 7mg dosage until I get through Boston.  BP was good at 110 over 68. 

A pleasant evening in Texas.  Ran over at Florence HS track.  4 miles at a medium effort pace.  Getting ready to do 20 miles on Saturday morning. 

A warm day in Texas, with temps in the 70's at 7:00 AM when we started.  Joe, Angel, Sean, and Tam joined me and Karen H. for the run toward Mt. Bonnell.  Last week Tam, Joe, and Angel had run the marathon in Austin.  Joe, Angel, and Sean ran the first 4 miles with us to the corner of Pecos and 35th at the cleaners.  Tam continued up to Mt. Bonnell with Karen and me and then back to Mopac at the Austin HS tennis courts.  Then Karen and I did the Congress Avenue loop.  And then I did another Congress Avenue loop. 

We ran a decent pace but we took it easy at the same time.  I monitored the right plantar tendon real close and it seemed to hold up pretty good.  It is a little tender now that I'm at home.  Overall, this makes a pretty good week of running.