Marathon Training

I am officially in training for the Houston Marathon this coming January.   My goal is to post a Boston Marathon qualifying time.  For my age group that time is 3:25 or a 7:49 mile.    I have set a goal of running a 7:40 pace to build in a cushion.

I have a base of over six hundred miles of running in this year and I have modified a Hal Higdon’s Advance 1 Plan to fit my schedule to be my training plan.   All my training in the past has never included speed work, it has been about base.  This plan includes speed work and race pace training.   I anticipate intervals to be a challenge for me.

This morning was the five mile at race pace.   Mentally I felt that it would be the reality check on my goal of qualifying for Boston.   I am very excited that I paced at 7:35 miles.  In no way could I have done that pace for 5.3 miles four more times, but I have hope. 

Flying Solo

When it comes to the two grandchildren, I am at best the “B” parent when Carol and I look after them.  Due to a series of events, I was put in charge of Nolan for Saturday afternoon.  We can count on one hand the amount of times I was the sole responsible adult for a child under two years old. 

It is not as difficult as one might imagine it to be.  When Nolan awoke from his nap, he needed to do a complete inspection of the house to make sure I was the one in charge.  Once he accepted that it was just him and PapaG, he seemed good with it. 

We watched some football, read books, played cars, fed the neighbor’s horses carrots and played on the trampoline.

I have concluded that the little trampoline is really a fancy playpen.    Works for me.

Hotter N’ Hell.

I did not have the best Hotter N’ Hell this year. (August 25, 2012)   I did not break the magical 20mph average.   A wise fellow weekend warrior pointed out, if they were is magical, and then there would be no magic.   As always, I enjoyed the company of my HHH gang at the tailgate in Wichita Falls.     The company of my traveling crew of Jim Dwyer and Justin Schwane is always entertaining.

The Garmin told me I averaged 18.8MPH for a total of 5:12 minutes.  Strangely, the timing chip from the event reported 5:09.   Regardless, I was plus five hours.     The change in the course did not help, mainly because the last 20 miles or so where plowing into a 25 mile an hour head wind.  It was brutal.

The new course also brought riders from the other distances to finish together.   This limited Justin and I to find group to draft off of to avoid the wind.  We ended up trading pulls and pulling in tired 100k riders.  

Broken Bow

The August Campout for the Troop is the Traditional “Mr. F” Canoe Trip at Beaver’s Bend State Park in Broken Bow, Oklahoma.    In 2000, Mr. Marc Funderburk help the boys plan this trip and it has been a Tradition ever sense.    It is on the edge of a weekend camping distance, but it is always worth the trip.

It has evolved into a Troop 5 family reunion of sorts because the four our float down the Mountain Fork River.   The boys have a wonderful time, create fond memories, and it makes the “college boys” come back every year.   At times, we will have a one to one adult to boy ratio on this trip.

Due to the excess of adult leadership, I often take my road bike up and get a 60 mile ride in why the troop is on the river.   Considering I have broken my hand on float, it is probably a better venture for me anyway.

We ended up with 30 campers this year.   You can tell by the pictures, the boys had a blast on the river.

The Troop went a little outside the box on this trip and finally awarded the rank of Eagle to two of our college boys.  Cameron Dwyer and Zack Wisch.  The neat thing about Troop 5 is that the rank of Eagle is never looked on as an ending for the boys, but part of the journey of Scouting.   Zack and Cameron never saw the need to have a special Court of Honor.   I just tired of holding onto to their Eagle Medals.  In addition, considering they are entering their fourth year of College, it was probably time to recognize their achievement.