Safari

Time: 111:00
Distance: 17.5 mi.
Map

A square-ish long run with Jordan from his place on my last morning in Norman. We began with 4 miles directly into an unrelenting 15+ mph wind. As soon as I was about to start hating him and running in general, we turned east and got out of the wind. It was fairly nice out there, with very straight rolling roads and farms abound. We got down to a steady pace, which was definitely good. It has been really nice to run with Jordan, who keeps the pace honest and the mood light. It has been a very nice change of pace (literally and figuratively) training with him the last few days. He posted the splits and the rundown:

Hit splits of: 6:59, 6:43, 6:38, 6:35, 6:26, 6:26, 6:09, 6:21, 6:07, 6:07, 6:04, 6:12, 6:05, 6:02, 6:05... We were trying to come up with a name for the run and some ideas were: "Rusty Tractor," "Rusty Wheel," "Midget Horse," "Wild Dogs," and "Dead Squirrel."

I've decided on naming the run "Safari." For one, we were a bit in the middle of nowhere. For two, there were a lot of animals: more dogs than I could count, squirrels (including a dead one), a dead skunk, turkeys, cows, hawks, horses, and yes, in fact, two miniature horses.

5 Mile Tempo, 300s

Time: 82:00
Distance: 13.5 mi.

Target: average of ~5:10 for 5 miles on Jordan's "Tetris" loop; 6 x 300m in 48-49 with 100m quick jog
Workout: 25:48 (avg. 5:09.6); 6 x 300m in 48-50 (7:59 total)

I met Jordan at the OU track to start warming up for the tempo and 300s. He worked out a loop (that looks a bit like a Tetris piece) for his tempo last week, and we used it again. This time it featured the good old 360 degree Oklahoma wind that is at your face at almost every turn. He led through the first half and then I led the rest. The splits are a little weird, but we started in 5:12 and brought it down to 5:06 for the last mile. The blocks are exact distances here, so it was easy to know when we had gone 1/4, 1/2 and 1 mile at different places in the course.

The finishing point gave us just shy of 10 minutes back to the track for 300s. I wasn't feeling too sharp, and it showed. I was between 48 and 49-high on the 300s, Jordan was 48-45. The jog was a little slower than it probably should have been too.

As it turned out, Jordan was being a milage hero and managed to get in a longer warmup and cooldown than I did. Who does that?

Corn Dog

Time: 60:00
Distance: 9 mi.

Run from Jilane's house with Jordan. As he describes in his log, we ran across a major Corn Dog spill near Norman High School. A tragedy, to be sure, but we had to soldier on. I was thinking of doubling today, but was feeling pretty beat at the end of the day and seem to be still fighting off a bit of a cold.

Bobcat

Time: 85:00
Distance: 13.5 mi.

I headed up for a long weekend in Norman, OK last night and met Jordan at his place in the morning for a run. We headed out on his "Bobcat" run. I'm not sure what makes this a standard run for him, as he has it listed on his log ranging from 12 to 20 miles, and many things in-between. After a few miles we got into a fairly steady pace, just over (and one mile apparently just under) 6 minute pace. It was a little bit windy and there are some rolling hills out in the country outside of Norman. The streets out there are also in one square mile grids, so you can split almost everything. This would make me hammer most of my runs... wait a second...

My legs felt a bit dead... I probably need new shoes relatively soon, but I just calculated that I've got about 375 miles on these, so they should last another week.

Norman Loop

Time: 45:00
Distance: 6.5 mi.

Jordan ran down to Jilane's to pick me up for part of his long run. I was apprehensive about how my knee would feel, but was pleasantly surprised. Only the slightest stiffness, so it seems that taking it easy is paying off. I warmed it up well beforehand and iced it afterward.

OK Runner Workout

Time: 50:00
Distance: 7 mi.

Very easy 7 miler on and around the OU track while Jordan was doing one of Tom's workouts (4 x 800-300) in the morning before I left Norman. The workout went well, but I felt pretty stiff (part of the reason I didn't do it with him... the other part is that I'm lazy and tired from traveling).

Dead Presidents

Time: 90:00
Distance: 14 mi.


OU has a (dare I say surprisingly?) nice campus

I ran from Jilane's and Jordan ran from his place and we met near the OU campus to start this run. It's a pretty regular loop of Jordan's, apparently, and is decently nice and keeps away from the major windy sections. I am naming this run for him as he declined to do so, but mentioned that it goes by 5 local schools all named after presidents. Legs were tight and felt tired. My right piriformis/glute was particularly tight this morning. We added on through the campus to get enough time.

OK Runner

Time: 36:43
Distance: 5.5 mi.

Ran Jordan's store in Norman in the evening. Some out and back through neighborhoods. I'm sure he will post something more detailed about the run, as I have no real idea where or how far we went.

Norman Jenkins

Time: 45:00
Distance: 6.5 mi.

Short morning run from Jilane's house in Norman... an out and back on Jenkins and then a short loop towards campus. Stiff from the drive yesterday, and facing a stiff wind much of the day.

Not to be confused with Leroy Jenkins.

Lake Draper

Time: 120:00
Distance: 18.5


Lake Stanley Draper

Got up pretty early in Norman to head out to Lake Draper for a long run. Ended up meeting up with some of the guys from the OU team and running the first part of the run with them. We were on the red dirt trails through 5+ and then Jordan and I hit the road that goes the rest of the way around. It was... a bit like running in a desert. Not terribly hot, but no respite from the shade. Between being somewhat dehydrated and pretty tired, I was dragging a little bit by the end.

5 Mile Tempo

Time: 75:00
Distance: 12 mi.

Target: 5 miles at 5:15-20 pace maybe finishing a little faster
Workout: 5:15, 5:16, 5:13, 5:11, 5:03 - 26:00


John Jacobs track

Warmed up from Jilane's house with Jordan to the University of Oklahoma track, which is about 3 miles. Shooting for something similar to last week's 4 mile tempo, but a little longer. We hit the paces pretty well, but it took a little while to get settled. It is pretty humid here, as I assume I'll be getting used to in Austin the next few weeks. Ran 1 mile easy on the track and then did 8 diagonal strides on the inside of the grass before heading the 3 miles back.

OU Golf Course

Time: 80:05
Distance: 12 mi.


The University of Oklahoma

Ran from Jordan's place in Norman pretty early in the morning. No real aches or pains from the drive, but still very tired. It was decently humid too, and I am dehydrated. Went through the OU campus over to the school's golf course for a couple loops.