Bret

AM - just under 5 miles on a rainy humid morning.  Both big toes under the joint, are achy - left more than the right - not functionally causing any issues with running but never experienced it before.  Assuming it is from more volume and perhaps too much treadmill running. 

PM -  10 miles around Carillon and Feathersound.  Muggy and buggy (gnats everywhere - and some in my eyes, grrr).  Decent effort -

AM - 4 miles easy - light aerobic running.  Will plan to do a longer run this afternoon.  Big toes are all good - no treadmill running yesterday - so that seems to have been the cause of the achiness yesterday.

PM - 15 miles on the treadmill.  Felt ok for the first hour, but just got bored/antsy on the second hour and couldn't get motivated to do any more that point. 

PM - hot afternoon - but actually enjoyed this run despite the heat.  Ran on a road that parallels Alderman and borders the Innisbrook golf course.  On the map, it appears to be a road, but after squeezing past some fencing and warning signs - I found a bit of an off road adventure - partial single track and some times asphalt pavement - but overall a bit off an adventure.   Just 6 miles - but that was the plan with the temps in the 90's - I don't like to go too much further.   Will do a run later this evening.

A celebration weekend/week of sorts.  Bradlea returned from Europe on Friday after being away for 5 months - and Riley had her 18th birthday and graduates high school this week.  IB graduation is this afternoon and then the graduation with whole class is Thursday.  Tracy's folks are in town staying with us - so our regular schedules are improvised.   

AM - easy 4 miles before work.  The IB graduation and dinner lasted much longer than I expected (got home at 9:30) and so, I did not get in the second run I was planning to do yesterday evening after the event.  Body doesn't like being shorted on activity - so it was a creeky start this morning.   

PM - Good high intensity aerobic effort - mile warm up then 7.5 miles at 6:42 pace - 1/2 mile cool down on the treadmill - average HR was 148.  Actually felt better as this run progressed although my HR crept up a bit at the end.

AM - 4.25 easy miles this morning before work.  Seems to take me about 1-2 miles to feel normal most mornings now - today I had issues with needing to get to the toilet for most of the run.  Lovely.

PM - after work, met up with Ken and Richie for a run around Carillon and Feathersound.  Started in a heavy rainstorm which ended after a couple of miles and just became steamy and humid.  Ran a couple of the parking structures that did not pick up on the Garmin GPS - so I think this was 12 miles or so.  Good to run with the guys but I think we were running a bit too quick for a long aerobic recovery run that I would have done on my own.  So, a bit fatigued at the end. 

AM - 4 miles easy - with some striders. Felt achy stiff and tired about an hour after the run.  Not too bad during. 

PM - 7.5 miles at lunchtime - Dump run.  Easily the worst run I have had in several weeks. Something is definitely off.

AM - up before 5 am decided to hit the gym with thunder storms brewing and drizzle already outside with humidity at over 90% too.  Easy aerobic effort of 8 miles slightly over an hour.  Last day of school for Delaney - dropped her off for her exam.  Riley's graduation is scheduled for this evening - outdoors - but the rain chances are making that look doubtful.

PM - 8 more on the treadmill at lunch.

PM - Oldsmar Beer Run 5k - (formerly the Oldsmar Tap House 5k) - I was not really planning to race but was coaxed into to running with Ken and Richie.  Steady rain and storms rolled in early afternoon (same as yesterday which postponed Riley's graduation ceremony until this morning) - Richie and I arrived at the same time and did a 3 mile warm up and headed over to the start to meet Ken when we were told that the race had been cancelled due to lightning.  The sheriff's department refused to provide traffic support and told the organizers to shut the race down.

Undeterred - a bunch of runners headed over to the starting line to proceed with the unofficial race.  Richie and Ken and I were going to just do a training run - but the excitement of doing the race anyway made us change our minds at the last minute.  Literally.  We were not even at the line when someone hit an airhorn and so we weaved our way through the recreational runners for the first half mile or so. 

Richie, feeling quite fit, pulled away at 5:40 pace - and I tried to keep things a bit more conservative - though my watch kept showing me 5:47 pace for a while.  Came through at 5:57 for mile 1 and 6:03 for mile 2 - but I felt like I was perhaps pushing a bit too much and slowed to a 6:15 for the last mile.  The finish area was not marked - so my best estimate was 18:50 or so.  Richie ran 5:42 then 5:36 but faded slightly to run a 17:50.  Ken was behind us - possibly low 20:00's to high 19's. 

Grabbed some water and did a long cool down in the rain  4 miles or so.  Ken maybe did a half mile and Richie possibly 2 miles - both joined the after party.  I headed home as my in-laws are still in town and Tracy is preparing the house for Riley's graduation party tomorrow.   

AM - easy 8.6 miles - weather was slightly less humid.  Body felt good, relaxed and no soreness and legs felt very nice following last evening's "race."

AM/PM - got in about 11 miles of easy running today between a short run before church and one in the afternoon in the heat. 

AM - 4 miles easy before work.

PM - 9 miles after work on the treadmill at moderate aerobic effort - right around a slowish marathon pace including a mile warm up.

AM - easy 4 miles before work - body seems to be adapting now to the volume - not as slow or achy as I was a few weeks ago on the morning runs.

PM - limited time at lunch for a longer run - so just 4 miles on the treadmill with a plan/hope for another run later this evening.

PM - 3rd run of the day - just under 10 miles in the evening after work and a soccer meeting for Delaney's team.

AM - 4 miles easy before work.

PM - 7.5 miles of fartlek work on the treadmill at lunch. 

AM - easy 5.5 miles before work.

PM - 12 miles after work.  Ran out Curlew out the causeway to Honeymoon Island and back along the Pinellas Trail.  Had the good fortune of some rain clouds blocking the sun, but not actually raining. 

AM - very easy 4 miles before work.

PM - 9 miles on the treadmill - with 8 miles at MP - and an avg HR of 151 - very pleased with the workout. 

PM - 16 miles easy.  I had wanted to get up early and do this run before dawn, but I went back to sleep after my alarm went off and instead slept in and made pancakes and read on the back porch with Tracy.  At that point it I had to decide whether to run on the treadmill, wait until the evening or brave the midday heat.  I chose the latter since I just ran yesterday on the 'mill and I couldn't see myself going for two hours on it again.  I also wanted to go down to the beach this evening and relax so - I decided to run at noon along the Pinellas Trail to the Hammock Park - and take advantage of the shade and water fountains nearby -  It is about 5 miles down to the Park - and so I did a bunch of loops on the trails in the Hammock - which used to be much less marked when I used to run it with Rob and the cross country team back in the day.  GPS had some challenges with the heavy tree cover so 16 is a rough estimate.  Plenty of water and a relaxed pace made the run much less difficult than it could have been.

AM - 3 miles easy before church.

PM - after a nice Father's Day of eating way too much junk including a cake my girls baked for me - I did 9 good relaxed miles in the evening.

PM - had to try to get to work earlier this morning - and because I wanted to go slightly further than 3 miles - I pushed my supplementary run out to lunchtime and did 5 miles around Carillon.  Will plan to do the main workout this evening after work.

PM - after work - ran 8.5 - push the pace for the second half but really was not feeling it tonight.   

AM - easy 5 miles before work.

PM - after work 12 perfect miles on the treadmill at or just below 70% HRR - or right around 140 bpm - at 7:30 pace.  Aerobic base training is still showing progress for me.  Funny too because I was really kinda dragging today and the first 5 mins or so on the treadmill, I thought about cutting things short.  Glad I didn't.

AM - easy 4 miles before work - PH Elementary loop.

PM - lunchtime - fartlek around Carillon office park and the trail around the lake - several loops and lots of speed changes.  Really windy hot and humid out.  Not a pleasant running experience.  But a decent workout nonetheless.

AM - easy 5 miles before work.  Did not feel much like running before I started this morning, but it evened out to a decent run.

PM - took a long lunch - 12 miles on the treadmill light to moderate aerobic effort.  There is a tropical system in the Gulf that is threatening a foot of rain over the next couple of days - cloudy warm and really humid right now, kept me inside.  Less stress. 

AM - 5.5 easy shake out miles on a warm, humid cloudy tropical feel, morning.

PM - lunchtime on the treadmill - high aerobic effort - 75-80% HRR for an hour.  After an easy mile warm up I increased the speed to 6:31 pace for the next 3 miles - but the treadmill stopped and just as I was restarting it - and perhaps just before it had stopped, I felt a little off - as if I was pushing too hard.  Started to put the speed back up, but thought that maybe I should just run an easy 30 mins, so I slowed the speed down to about 7:45 pace, but within about 3-4 mins I felt much better and finished out at 6:42 pace.  Weird.  But I take this as an interesting discovery - not to necessarily throw in the towel on a workout as I might have in the past, but noodle through a rough patch and maybe it will work its way out.  Was not the best workout, but wasn't the worst.  So it was a mile warm up then 7.0 miles at MP and a half mile in the middle of "not so fast."

Will keep the intensity low for the next couple of days for proper recovery.   

AM - out the door at 4:40 am with a plan to get most of my long run in before sunrise.  Wanted to run very easy so went without a watch or ipod and headed out Dunedin Causeway to Honeymoon Island and back along the Pinellas Trail - thought this was going to be about 16 miles but on the map it looks to have been only about 14 miles.  Very enjoyable and relaxing run.  Peaceful going over the drawbridge with the lightly gusting winds from the tropical system in Gulf and the intracoastal waters lapping at the seawall...my footfalls squish, squishing along (humidity makes my feet / shoes get so soaked, they sound like wet sponges after about an hour of running in the summertime).  Light rain for the last couple of miles.  Good start to the day.

PM - following the morning's run, I made pancakes for the family and then we went to an outting at John Chesnut Park with a networking group Tracy works with.  The rain held off for a while and we enjoyed a game of volleyball and kickball - with the usual picnic foods on hand.  Packed everything up in time for the rains to come in.  Caught a short nap, watched Spain defeat France in the Euros, and then headed out in the rain for a nice 6.5 mile run.  The restorative power of the long easy aerobic run cannot be understated.  I was pretty tired yesterday, but this morning's long run seemed to bring me back into balance, and so I moved along at a decent clip this afternoon.  High mileage week for me too. 

AM - got out early again this morning - around 5:30 am.  Busy day ahead of sorts.  Have a flight to NYC this afternoon for a business meeting tomorrow morning.  Tropical Storm Debbie was lashing away when I walked outside - actually it was a pretty steady rainfall and has probably been raining for about 10 hours - but the rain was refreshing when I wasn't running into the heavy gusts which probably were in the 25-30 mph range.  Steady 10 miles - felt good most of the way, though a bit hungry and waterlogged at the end. 

PM - flight into NYC was delayed a bit getting out of Tampa - but arrived at my hotel at 7:30 and ran 5 miles on the treadmill to shake out the travel.  Meeting a colleague for dinner in Soho - he just finished a week long cycling tour in Colorado - looking forward to some interesting stories.

AM - just under 5 miles in lower Manhattan - from my hotel in Soho down past Ground Zero and Battery Park.  Rain seems to be following me from Florida as storms were pushing in this morning.  Hoping my mediation will wrap early and I can get a flight home ahead of schedule. 

AM - 6 miles - really windy with tropical storm Debby pounding away.  95% humidity.   Missed my chance at a second run yesterday - lengthy flight delays --so I think that threw my body off a bit this morning.  Took almost 4 miles to feel normal.  Right calf is sore just above the achilles tendon - could be overuse - but may be from hoofing around in NYC in business shoes for a couple of days.  Will keep an eye on it. 

PM - 12 miles on the treadmill - had the HR monitor on for about 25 mins and was holding steady at just under 138 at 7:24 pace - so I removed it, and then pushed the pace slightly to 7:19 for the rest of the run.  Girl on the treadmill next to me seemed to be intent on "one-upping" me each time I matched her pace - so I let her go - this wasn't a race for me.   Good runner though, she stayed on for an hour at 7:13 pace.   My calf/achilles was tight and tender to walk before the run but really was not an issue during the workout.  Stretched it out afterwards and used the foam roller too. 

AM - easy 4 miles before work.  TS Debby's worst is past us now - just debris and standing water and beach erosion to clean up.  Heading out later today on business to Phoenix - will get a workout in at lunch though.   Right calf/achilles was tender again this morning - so I did not push the pace at all.  Seems to get stiff/sore after sitting for a while. May be some tendinitis.

PM - Fartlek workout on the treadmill - with last two miles at MRP - felt very strong.  Several surges of a min or more at 5:20 pace - several "hills" etc. Overall just a really satisfying workout that still felt mainly aerobic.  Calf was tight, but functional.  Used the foam roller afterwards and more active release self massage on it.  Certainly no worse. 

AM - in Phoenix - nice little run of 6 miles on a dirt trail along side a canal.  6:30 in the morning it was 90 degrees.  May find myself inside for my second run today if the high temp today of 113 is reached.  No pain in the calf at all.

PM - disappointedly had to keep myself indoors after a long day of mediation when the outside temp at 6 pm was 111 degrees.  So, 12 miles on the treadmill at the hotel fitness center. 

AM - out of the hotel by 5:30 am (already 90 degrees) ran up to the Arizona Grand Canal Trail again - This morning I went in the opposite direction from yesterday.  Thought about venturing onto a trail in a mountain preserve - but as I neared the preserve, as the sun was getting higher, and the temps were too, I decided to turn around and keep things easy for today.  7 miles in total. 

Oh yeah - almost forgot - on Wednesday evening when I arrived, I was welcomed by a dust storm - never experienced anything like it.  Quite a spectacle.  Enough with this desert climate - heading home this morning. 

PM - got back home around 7 pm - visited with the family a bit, and then went out and did a light 5 miles with 8 striders.  Much more humid here of course, but significantly cooler - and I really appreciated the moisture in the air.  I will limit my complaints of the heat here henceforth - having experienced the desert for a few days.

Oh and the run was profitable...literally.  I found $20 on the road during my run.  Score!

Noon - So I had some poor time management issues this morning (had to take Delaney to soccer training and then had to watch all of the TDF prologue ...Fabian "Spartacus" Cancellara was a beast..) and then realized that my evening was going to be spent a soccer game with our local team the Tampa Bay Rowdies - as my girls bought tickets for the game as a Father's Day gift a couple weeks ago.  As a result I had to put in a few extra miles in the midday heat.  A solid 20 miles which consisted of multiple loops of various distances close to my neighborhood, so that I could run by my house and grab water to keep from dehydrating.  I did loops of 6 miles, then 2 miles, then 4 miles then 2, then 1, then 2, then 3 to finish up.  Changed shoes a little over half way when the first pair got soggy.  Temps in the low 90's but I found some shady stretches and wore a hat.  I think I just felt a little mental fatigue in the last mile or so.