The Long Run

I was able to run with Jenny this morning since the kids were doing a sleepover at their grandparents house.  We don't get to run together often so it's nice when we can.  Thanks for the run this morning Jenny!

The weather was nice out but has just turned cold (finally a hint of winter).

We will be running the Gasparilla half marathon in February so we'll get to run 13.1 then.  Also joining us will be her training partner Kathryn.  The 10K that Jenny and I did in March went well, so hopefully this one will work out too.

 
Brooks 

Dixie called me up last night to see if I wanted to run with him.  So, we met up this morning just after 6:30 (I was a few minutes late) at the 7-11 outside of John Chestnut park.  It was much colder this morning than the last few mornings (about 46°) but was also very windy making it feel more like high 30's.

We were both just wanting to get the run done.  It wasn't so bad after the first mile because we were warmed up and had just turned off the main road onto a side street which was much more protected.   We kept the pace pretty easy, arrived at the park and did the loop through the Lake park inside Lansbrook which is about .25 mile and kind of like a nature trail (but paved).    Stopped for water briefly at the drinking fountain.  I kept the clock running so that fourth mile with the stop was 9:07.   We were both feeling good and the pace gradually picked up.

We overshot our parking lot a little bit and looped through John Chestnut.   By this point we were almost at 7 miles so decided to just keep going to reaching 7.    Last 2 miles were at 7:30.

Average pace: 8:17

Asics gt-2120

This morning was the coldest morning so far this year, possibly even colder than any day last year (but still nothing I should be whining about) - 29° according to my truck's thermometer. Due to this colder weather and the fact that it is not going to last very long (warming back up tomorrow), I decided to run inside.

Did my usual inside routine at the Y consisting of 10 minutes on the bike and six minutes on the rower, then hopped onto a treadmill.

Started out slow and gradually increased the speed until I was at 8:20 pace. Kept it there for the most part, but did several moderate bursts of speed between 30 and 90 seconds at a 7:08 pace just to keep from getting bored.

I followed up with some lower body weights including some squats which I have not done for a long time. 

I'll "tough out" tomorrow morning's low-mid 40's and run outside :)

Average pace: 8:16

Old asics

As promised yesterday, I braved the frigid (although warmer than yesterday) weather and ran outside and braved the 39° weather along with enough wind to make it feel colder (ok, all you people running in the single digits go easy on me).

Did some warm up inside before going out, 10 minutes on the bike, 5 minutes on the rower.  Had the Garmin but only looked at the mile splits (even forgot to look for one of the miles).  No problems with ankle/shin startup issues which is always nice.  This is usually my biggest issue when doing an easy run.

My pace was a little bit fast for an easy pace, but still within range.

Average pace: 8:00

Asics gt-2120 

Went back inside and did some upper body weights.  Once I got back home did some hanging knee raises and pull ups.

This morning had perfect running temperature of 50°.  I felt a little bit chilly before running, but quickly felt comfortable after the first mile.  I didn't have any plans as to whom I was going to run with this morning, it all depended on who showed up.  As I got to the Y at 7:00, Bob was finishing up 9 miles and was about to go out for another 6.  I was going to run with him but missed him on his way out.  Eric was going to do 9 so I said I'd go along with him.  Normally, he'll start out with us and then take off after about 1.5 miles.   But, this morning I stuck with him until the turnaround point at 4.5 miles.  It was a good effort for me to keep up with him during his warm up.  I reached some speeds that I hadn't been to for a while. 

At 4.5 miles I ran into David and Jenny so I ran with them for a few miles.  I split off from them with about 3 miles left to go.  I picked up the pace a little bit but nothing too crazy.

Then spent some time chatting with some of the other runners and enjoying some decaf coffee and cinnamon buns that someone else brought.

Once I got home, my wife had some banana pancakes still out that she made for the kids, they  were delicious, mmmmm :) 

I made my goal for today (doing 10 or 11) and for the week (40 miles).

Average pace: 7:45

Brooks 

Today's run went really well.  It was pretty nice running weather, low 50's, although the air was a bit damp making it feel cooler, and of course damp.  I met up with Dixie right about 6:00 at the Y.  He was up for some easy miles today and so was I.  Usually between the two of us, some of the miles end up being too fast.  But not today.  At one point the pace started to creep up but then I backed it down.  It felt good to know that my body wanted to go faster and was capable of going faster but I chose not to.  I have come to believe more and more that one of the "secrets" to improvement is going slower on easy days and fast on hard days.

The 6:00 start time allowed time for a little bit of weights and cross training after the run while still getting back home a few minutes ahead of schedule.

Average pace: 8:25

Asics gt-2120 

I wore my new pair of Brooks Adrenaline today.  I had wanted to buy another pair of Glycerin but the store I went to did not have them so I got these instead.  Good price and they feel about the same so far.   I woke up at 6:05 this morning and decided to run from home.  I would do a big loop out to the neighborhood I usually run at when I start from the Y.

I took the first mile slow (9:27) and went a little bit faster for the second mile (8:22), and then tried to settle in around there.   The weather was once again very nice out.  About 60° and none of the dampness from yesterday.  I was also fortunate again to not have uncomfortable beginning miles.  Nothing worse than slow and uncomfortable, not enjoyable at all.  I've been doing better since I remembered to do that stretch where you trace out the alphabet with each foot.

I had my fuel belt with me so I took a couple of sips of accelerade about each mile.  The 4th mile was a bit faster than I wanted for "easy" pace (7:31), so I backed it down to about an 8:00.

My goal for today was to do at least 8.5 so I was able to do that and just a little bit more.  Did some striders during the last mile which felt great.

Average pace: 8:05 

I finally switched over my template so I can keep track of shoe miles easier.  Trainer 1 will be the Adrenalines and Trainer 2 will be the Asics gt-2120.
 

Keith had wanted to do I tempo run today so I figured this would be a good time to start easing back into these.  He had to be someplace early so I met him at the Y about 5:20 so we could start at 5:30 sharp.

We warmed up with about 1.5 miles at an easy pace (9:00-9:30), then started our tempo run with a goal of 7:10 at 3 miles.  Most of the first mile the garmin said 7:05 so that seemed about right, but then at the end it jumped up a little bit and that mile ended up being 6:59.   Second mile was basically the same story but that one was 6:52.  By the third mile we were both feeling pretty good, pace picked up some more especially in the last .25 mile, the last mile was in 6:41.

We then slowed down and headed back to the parking lot. 

I went inside did a little bit of cardio cross training and some upper body weights.  It was nice to get all of this done and still be back home earlier than usual. 

Good basic run this morning.  More good weather, I am really cherishing this time of year.  I ran from home which made things simple.  My warm up and stretch routines paid off once again.  First mile felt easy and was a good pace for a first mile - 8:26.   I turned on my music after two miles.  My pace kept on creeping up, I backed it down once but it kept up again.  If my pace keeps creeping up I'll take it.

Average pace: 7:54 

Took the boys to school so Jenny and Amy could get their run in a little bit early.  Her Mom and other two sisters arrive this afternoon then they are all off to Disney tomorrow morning for the half marathon, the first one for all of them. 

Just a little over four easy miles this morning.  I managed to keep the pace easy which was good since the tendons on my feet were starting to feel a little sore from yesterday's "easy" run which was probably too fast especially since it followed after Wednesday's tempo run.

Goal for tomorrow will be 10-12 miles at an easy pace. 

 Average pace: 8:34
 

I had woken up about 15 minutes before the alarm clock.  My sister-in-law was up early as she is still on Belgium time as well as my mother-in-law who always seems to be up early.  There was lots of excitement as my wife, her 3 sisters and their Mom were getting ready to head out to Orlando for the Disney half marathon tomorrow.  They've all trained really hard.  It's amazing to see what sounded like a crazy idea almost two years ago now turn into reality.  I'll be watching for their times tomorrow morning. 

Jenny was over in Orlando this morning with her mom and 3 sisters, starting out on the Disney half marathon as I was driving to Starkey park for my Saturday run.  I got the first 5K update for Jenny just as I was getting there (I had signed up for text messages to my cellphone). 29:31 for the first 5K - a little bit slower pace than she wanted but I knew how crowded the start would be for her.

Keith and Dixie had gotten to the park early and had already started out when I got there.  Eric was there so he invited me along to run a couple of miles with him.  He was doing 15 and I'm not quite yet ready to keep up with him for an entire run.  About 1.2 miles into the run my phone pinged again for another update.  So, I said good bye to Eric and pulled my phone out of my belt to read the next pace.  10K time was 59:32, a little bit slower.  I didn't think it would still be crowded at 10K, but I would later find out that it was.

I ran into Keith and Dixie heading back in so I turned around and ran with them for a bit.  As we were getting back near the parking lot, Nelson was heading out so I switched directions again and ran with him for a bit.  He wasn't going very far today so I was soon on my own again.  My phone pinged again, Jenny was holding her pace.

I made it out to my turnaround point and headed back in.  I ran another mile and stopped to retie my shoe on my right foot, it was starting to hurt me.  Retying it seemed to help.  I saw Bob up ahead but he was pulling away from me as I was stopped.  So, I picked it up and caught up with him and ran in with him the rest of the way.

As we ran back to the end I got the final update for Jenny, she had made it in 2:10:42 for her first half marathon.  It was a little bit slower than what she wanted (she was hoping for between 2:00 and 2:09), but I think it was good especially considering the crowds that she had to fight through.  All of her sisters and her mom also finished in the times they wanted.

Between the cellphone pages and the different people I ran with it was definitely not a boring run for me.

Average pace: 8:08

I headed back home and took my mom and my kids out to breakfast at the Village Inn.  Thanks mom for coming over at 6:30 this morning to watch the kids for me!

Nice easy run this morning (except for one mile).  I went to the Y about 6:45 and did some bike and rowing machine to warm up inside first.  It was back to chilly but still nice at about 50°.  Dixie showed up a little bit past 7:00.

We took the first couple of miles at an easy pace (although they felt faster), then the pace gradually crept up.  The 5th mile was at 7:25, so I started watching the pace and slowed down a bit with the last two miles at about 7:50.

Foot was a lot better today, but I still need to keep an eye on it until it is 100%.

Average pace: 8:04

This morning was cool and windy. The house felt cold when I woke up so I had to turn on the heater. It was one of those mornings which was very tempting to skip running or at least head over to a treadmill. However, apart from the wind the temp. itself wasn't too bad at 43° and I knew I would feel warmer after the first mile. So, with one final thought of getting into my car and going to use a treadmill at the Y, I resisted the temptation and starting my run.

Left from my house on a route which would give me about 8 miles and could easily be extended by a mile if I felt good. I did feel warmer after a mile and was able to let my hands stick out from my long sleeve shirt. After 3 miles I almost felt too warm since I was wearing two shirts.

Pace felt good, first mile at 9:05, next one at 8:15. Trying to keep it no faster than 8. Miles 5, 6, and 7 were a about 7:50 pace. Slowed down for the last mile to about 8:30. Big toe on my right foot was starting to bother me. Not terrible, but enough to remind me to take it easy.

Average pace: 8:11

Today was a little bit warmer than yesterday, requiring just one shirt (long sleeve) and shorts.  I was undecided at first whether to do treadmill or run outside.  I was thinking about the treadmill because I wanted to ensure I did a steady easy pace and didn't get carried away if I was feeling good as I need to clear up my foot problem before it gets worse.

I started out with some warm up inside on the bike and rower as usual then followed up with some light dynamic stretching.  I decided to go outside.  The run went really well.  First mile felt good at an 8:39 pace.  Just after 1.5 miles my foot was acting up a little bit, but then by just under 3 miles it started feeling better.   This would normally be the point where I'd pick things up, but instead I kept the pace fairly steady.   Things felt ok and I decided I would not have to cut the run short. 

I finished up just over 6 miles with an 8:28 average pace, splits were between 8:14 and 8:39.  The easy run felt easy and my foot didn't feel bad at the end.  Some more runs like this and hopefully I should be able to be 100% again.

I then went back inside and did some upper body weights. 

It rained all night last night and I woke several times.  It was good to get so much rain because we had been only getting a little bit here and there.  It was still raining when I got up although it was slowing down.  I probably would have been ok to run outside because the rain would have ended shortly into the run and it wasn't very cold out (it was actually almost warm).

So, I opted for the treadmill this morning.  I was glad I didn't do the treadmill yesterday.  Better to save it for rainy days.  It was also good to get in some steady pace running.  The monotony is also good mental toughness training (looking on the bright side of things!).

Also, since I was there I did my usual bike and rower warm up.  The rower seems to do a good job stretching my Achilles tendon. 

I think my foot is almost all better, I could barely tell that there had been anything wrong with it. 

Average pace: 8:30

Mainly a cross training and weights day with some easy running thrown in.  Did some time on the bike and rower and then did lower body weights.  I included some squats today since the last time I tried them they were horribly difficult.  It wasn't due to the main quads but seemed difficult due to some of the stabilizing muscles that I must have been neglecting.  I'm trying to keep myself well rounded which fortunately can make me a better runner by not getting injured.  I intend to mostly concentrate on my running but I don't want to neglect everything else.  Hopefully I can strike a good balance.

I then went outside and ran with no garmin and no music.   I did however have my watch on which I kept looking at especially toward the end.  It was a cool and comfortable 60° but pretty overcast and gray.  I kept the run at a pretty easy pace for the most part.  Looked at mapmyrun later on to get the actual distance.

Average pace: 8:25

Met up with Dixie this morning at 7:00. Ran through Lansbrook neighborhoods. It was a cool and slightly foggy morning. First few miles felt pretty good, although I felt some heaviness from having done lower body weights yesterday, but nothing I couldn't deal with.

Good conversational pace most of the run, with a slight pickup at the end, with the last full mile at 7:25. Slowed down for the last 0.3 for a cool down and then did some walking after that for more cool down. Foot was pretty good today, much better than it was one week ago today. Active recovery seems to be working since I have not had to take any time off, just cut back a few miles and slow it down a little bit. I'm itching to do a big long run once I'm back to 100%.  Apart from my foot I've been feeling really good on my runs, feeling like I could go much farther and at a faster pace.  Some of this might be due to some even healthier cooking recently by my wife.  She has been cooking quite a bit of vegan dishes.  I've been having some meat here and there but when I don't have any I don't seem to miss it that much.  She has started a blog showing some of the dishes she has made:

http://tryoutvegan.blogspot.com

Average pace: 8:10

Last night I was planning on just running by myself this morning, but then Dixie gave me a call to tell me that he and some of the guys were going to run in Starkey park in the morning.  It turned out that it worked out really well since this morning's cold weather would have made me feel less than motivated.  When that happens, I still seem to get the job done, I just don't enjoy it as much.

So, I arrived at Starkey park just before 7:00.  Keith, Nelson, and then Dixie showed up.  We decided on doing about 8 miles.  It was 41° , had just gotten light out and I was wearing a tight short sleeve shirt with long sleeve looser shirt over it, shorts, hat, and gloves.  We set off at a nice and easy pace, slower got faster, then stopped for a little bit at 2.5 miles, then continued on.  We went out a little past 4 miles and then stopped again.  I let the clock keep running.  Got moving again, and the pace crept up with 7:56, 7:32, and then 7:09 for the last full mile.  For the last full mile, it was kind of a game where one guy came up on Dixie's shoulder, without passing him, this always makes him go faster.   We were probably going just under 6:30 pace for the last half mile but having fun.  Cooled down for the last 0.38 to get back to the parking lot.

Stretched out for a little bit then headed back home just in time to catch the tail end of breakfast with my family.  Did a little more stretching, some hanging knee raises, and plank.  Finally did two sets of pull ups (17 and then 10 very slow ones).

Average pace: 8:29  (about 8:11 for the actual running portions)

Time: 1:11:05 

I took a bit too long to get ready this morning.  Alarm went off and got out of bed at 6:12, but it seemed to take forever to actually get started running which wasn't until sometime after 7:00.  It was much warmer this morning.  Wore one long sleeve shirt but it turned out to be too much, should have gone with short sleeve.  

First few miles felt ok.  But for some reason, by about 4 miles my strides felt "cloppy" and "slappy" and soon my left leg from my ankle up to me knee got very tight and the running soon felt miserable.   It was such a nice day I decided I wasn't going to let this ruin my run.  

I stopped the timer, started walking and stretching and enjoyed the morning for a couple of minutes.   When I felt ready to go again, I went.  It was like I was able to press a reset button to fix things.   From that point until back home I felt much better.  When I got close to the house I came to a tee intersection where I could go right and finish up a 7 mile run or go left for just over 8 miles, I picked left and felt good when I made it home for how my run turned out.

Average pace: 8:17

I'm going to meet Keith (and possibly Dixie) at 5:20 tomorrow for a tempo run.

As planned, I woke up this morning at 4:45 and made it to the Y by 5:20 to meet Keith.  Dixie was also there as well as Nelson and Raj.  It had been raining all night but the rain had stopped so it was a little bit humid but still relatively cool. 

We warmed up with an easy paced 1.5 miles, then started the tempo run.  I was the keeper of the pace and Keith had asked for a pace between 7:00 and 7:10.  First mile was at 7:07, second at 7:03.  The last mile was at 6:54.  Ironically it was Keith, along with Nelson who had picked things up for the last mile.  I was hanging back a bit in hopes they would slow back down.   This speed up had something to do with a political discussion which became heated.  With all of the talking going on maybe we weren't running fast enough?  I'm going to encourage the group to add on another mile next week if everyone else has time.

On the return trip back, ran at about an 8:15 pace.  The rain started up again but wasn't too heavy until after we got back.

I headed inside, did 10 minutes on the bike, 10 minutes on the rower then a full body weight routine.  After I got home I stretched a little bit, did some knee raises and one set of 20 pull ups.

I had plenty of time to get ready for work and left about half an hour earlier than usual.  I feel like I have so much time in the morning when  I get up this early.

Ran with Dixie this morning at 7:00.  Met up outside of John Chestnut park.  Weather was nice with overcast skies and 65° (sleeveless shirt weather).  

First mile was slower at 9:04 (pretty typical for a first mile for me).   Net 6 miles were at an 8:00 to 8:15 pace except for one of them which was 10:14 where we stopped for water but I did not turn the timer off.   Last mile was at 7:05.  Much of that last mile was actually a bit faster than that but we slowed down for the last .2, then jogged back to the parking lot for the last 0.1.

I felt really good on that last mile, much better than yesterday when I ran the same pace.   Both feet are feeling 100%.

Average pace : 8:25    (1:08:17) 

Today was my usual cross train/weights/very easy run day.  I wasn't planning on running outside which was good because it was much colder than I expected this morning and windy too.

 I did 11 minutes on the bike, 10 minutes on the rower.   Then I did some stretching followed by another full body weight routine (although slightly different than the one I did last time).  I did leg extensions, squats, curls, and tricep pullovers.

Then I hopped on the treadmill for 2 easy miles - mainly at an 8:30 pace but a few bursts of speed thrown in just to mix things up.

My wife had seen a push up contest online that someone was doing which she had entered into with 49 push ups.  So far she was in the lead and I didn't want to take that away from her  but was curious where I was at.  The contest is to see how many push ups you can do in 1 minute.  I did 66.  I hadn't tried doing a lot of push ups in a row for a long time so it was good to see that all the running has not weakened me elsewhere.  In fact it almost seemed like I could sense an improvement because of running since this was sort of like a sprint.
 

Lots of people were there this morning.  Met up at the Y about 6:45 although we didn't seem to get started until about 7:10.  It was Joe, Randall, Dixie, Bob, Nelson, Keith, Kevin, and myself running together as well as some others running but at a different distance/pace.  The group always seems to go faster when Nelson runs with us.  Most of the run was at an easy pace with a few miles faster - one of them at 7:13 where I had split off from one group and went to catch up with another group.  The last two miles were at 7:26 pace.   Spent some time after the run at the social hour.

Average pace: 7:51 

Chilly run this morning (low 40's), ran alone from the Y after doing my usual warm up routine inside.   Last night before I went to bed I forgot to mentally prepare myself for the morning run.  Fortunately this did not mean a bad run, it just took longer before I felt organized.    The miles went by pretty smoothly.  First mile was at 9:02 which counted getting stuck at a light for at least 15 seconds, so that was pretty good for a first mile.

I finally got home at 8:40, which meant I was a little bit late and also that it took me too long to get ready for run for one hour since I had woken up at 6:10.  I need to cut down on some of the unnecessary overhead.   The run itself was good. 

Average pace: 8:04 

I woke up at 6:06 this morning. I looked at the temp outside and decided to wear one short sleeve shirt, a long sleeve shirt and shorts. I was going to run from home this morning so I started my warm up inside along with the usual morning dog care and eating my pre-run snack. I was soon out the door and did a little more warm up using some dynamic stretches. Then I was on my way.

The objective this morning was a medium long run at a steady and reasonable pace. I started out slowly, it felt very slow but comfortable and easy also (that is not always a given). But it turns out that the pace wasn't that slow, it was my usual first mile pace of 8:59. I went out the neighborhood, onto 54 then onto Starkey Blvd. where they have a pretty nice bike trail. This was at the 2 mile point and I was feeling a bit warm like I had overdressed. About a 1/2 mile onto Starkey I ran into a fog bank and the temperature felt like it dropped 10 degrees with the air chilling me to my bones despite my layers. I kept going and got used to it. It was a really nice morning out with rays of light streaming through the tall trees. There was no one else at all on this trail. I continued on to Alico Pass and took a right onto it for another 1/2 mile before turning back. My pace had picked up a bit so I slowed down a little bit here and there so it wouldn't be a steady pick up all the way back.

When I finally made it back to 54 there was some wind and a lot more cars. I slowed down a little bit going against the wind. I crossed 54 with no problems and headed back towards my neighborhood. I had run almost 1 1/2 hours so I overshot my house a little bit to round things off.

It had been a while since I did a good medium long run on a Tuesday and it felt great.

Tempo run tomorrow at 5:20 with the guys.

Average pace: 7:59

Another early morning tempo run this morning. We were meeting at 5:20 so that Keith could run with us. Ironically, Keith overslept and could not make it this morning, so we'll all give him some grief next time we see him. When I rolled out of bed at 4:45 this morning I felt a bit fumbly although I thought I was doing a pretty good job keeping down the noise. It turns out I did not receive very high marks on that from Jenny, although part of it is not completely my fault. Sammy (the dog) has this habit of flinging open the door very wide and exposing the bedroom to the light and noise of me getting ready.

So, we met up at the Y. It was Nelson, Randall, Dixie, Raj, two of Raj's friends, and myself. We started out nice and easy for the first 1.5 miles, crossed Mitchell Blvd. then started the tempo. First mile felt pretty good, second mile still felt strong, for the third mile I looked forward to finishing it so I could count down the last mile, and the last mile came in a little bit faster.

Splits were: 7:04, 6:57, 6:59, and 6:52

I was pretty happy with this run because I did almost exactly what was planned and got to run with some friends.  However, part of me is thinking how was I able to do 7 miles at 6:49 pace this past summer?  Today's run certainly didn't feel easy.  I'm not sure what level of fitness I would need to be at to make today's run feel  easier.  At the same time I also realize that just because 4 miles at this pace didn't feel easy doesn't mean that 7 or 8 miles at this pace would be any harder.

Average pace for entire run: 7:55

Went inside and did a little bit of cross training cardio and weights.

Today's run was great. I loved it. After yesterday's morning run a bunch of guys there said they were up for another run the next day (today) but at an easy pace. Dixie called last night to say he couldn't make it but I figured I'd show up anyways. I woke up just after 5:00 which felt like sleeping in compared to yesterday's 4:45. I showed up at the Y but no one was there. Oh well, at least I got an early start. I decided to do my big production indoor warm up and then head outside. I did see David and Jenny who had just finished up their run and chatted with them for a bit. Then I was off, it was now just after 6:00.

The first few miles felt pretty easy and I felt good. The weather was nice. Cool and comfortable enough for sleeveless shirt and shorts. Before I knew it I was halfway done. At mile 7 I felt like going fast for a little bit, so I did. I went really fast but just for a short distance, maybe about 0.2 miles at just under a 6:00 pace. Slowed back down and ran back towards the Y. I went inside and cooled down a bit on the treadmill walking then headed home.

Average pace 8:03