The Long Run

Went to Starkey park.  It was pretty empty this morning.  Matt was there and wondered why no one else was there.  The group run was switched to Sunday instead.  Still some coughing left over but maintained a decent pace and ran pretty even.  Very nice morning out and it was great to talk with Matt who also happened to be running 15 miles this morning.

Average pace: 8:12

Met up with Dixie at the hilly neighborhood.  Took it easy on the run as that was about all I could do.  Still some coughing at the beginning of the run.   Dixie had to get going for work so we only did about 6.3 miles together.  I did a little bit more to get over 9 for the day.

Average pace: 8:59

Stretched once I got back home including a wii yoga routine.

I ran with Jenny this morning.  We warmed up for two miles then I was going to tag along with her on the tempo portion of her run.  But when we got going I was having trouble keeping up so I fell back after a mile and then took it easy.  Met her up at the water fountain.  We then ran some more together until she headed home.  I was scheduled for 14 miles but felt that 11 miles was good for today, I'll do the 14 mile run later this week when the 11 was supposed to be.  Right adductor muscle was bothering me again.  This had been ok on Saturday, but I re-aggravated it on Sunday night doing a wii football training drill.

Average pace: 8:43

Short, easy run tomorrow.

I also figured out part of my problem, I just realized that both shoes that I've been rotating between have way more miles than I usually let them get.  So, bought a new pair tonight.

Ran recovery run.  5.2 miles in the neighborhood.  Run was much better with new shoes after realizing I had let the mileage get too high on the other two pairs I was rotating between.  Started out slow and went a little bit faster on the last two miles.

Average pace: 8:50

It was raining when I woke up and had been for some time.  There was also lightning and a good bit of wind to deal with, so I headed over to the Y.  Plan was to start out on the treadmill and then maybe head outside if it looked better.

Did 4.5 miles in 36:45 then went outside where the rain had almost stopped, but it was still windy and cold and I realized I was not dressed properly so I headed back inside.

Did another 5 miles in just over 40 minutes.  About 30 minutes into the run my right foot hurt near the big toe and I realized I had my new shoes laced too tightly. Fixed the laces, then finished up the 5 miles, grabbed some more water and did another 3.7 miles a little bit faster.

Average pace: 8:04

Original goal was to get 14 miles in, but this was pretty close and was probably the longest treadmill run I have done so far.

Had to stop and adjust my laces a couple of times so I could run, foot was hurting where the laces were too tight yesterday.  Made the right shoe very loose then I could run.  Good thing today was a short and easy run.

Average pace: 8:33

Much warmer this morning than I had expected, so I traded the long sleeves for short sleeves.  Late start this morning, finally got going a little bit after 7:00.  Left from my house and headed up Starkey Blvd. to Starkey Park.   Again, I stopped a couple of times early on to loosen up my shoe laces, almost thought the run wasn't going to happen, happy once I was able to get moving.

First two miles were slow, was afraid the whole run was going to be that way, but was able to go a little bit faster each mile.  I ran into Jorge and Victoria on their way back with only 3.5 miles left for them and a long way left for me.

Hit some wind a few times whenever I was heading west, other than that it was a perfect morning for running.

Made it into the park and started running into some more of the Striders - Melanie, Jamie #1, Big Steve, David, Alex, and some others.  Topped off my two water bottles just before the turnaround.  I was at about an 8:20 pace when I started heading back.

Kept the pace under 8:00 for the return trip and once I had just two miles left, I picked up the pace to 7:20 and 6:50 for the final two miles.

This was my first run in a couple of weeks that I felt really good about (last
Saturday's was pretty good), it was starting to get me down a little bit, although I shouldn't have worried about it because bad runs are just temporary.

Average pace: 7:57

I'm trying to get serious about my schedule.  I usually take it easy on Monday's but the schedule said 4 mile tempo run.  I figure this is a good way to get out of the rut I was starting to get in.  Warmed on the treadmill at the Y for 2.12 miles, then headed outside.  Went across the street to the neighborhood where I like to run and started the tempo portion.

I was supposed to do 4 miles between 15K and half marathon pace.  After starting out and still not feeling 100%, I decided I would try to go more effort than pace, and if I happened to hit the paces, then that would be a bonus.

splits: 6:52, 6:42, 6:54, 6:33

So, I felt pretty good that I didn't just take the easy way out but put in some effort and ended up coming pretty close to the range I wanted.

Finished up with a cool down to get me back to the parking lot.

Average pace: 7:40

 Big mid-week run tomorrow (14 miles)

PM - did a yoga video that my wife was emailed.  it was kind of hard to follow and I missed a lot of what I was supposed to do but still managed to get in some good stretching.

Started out with Jenny and we did just over 7 miles together.  Quite a difference from the run one week ago.  Felt a lot better.  Continued on by myself and kept the second half pretty even.  Decent weather and a pretty good run all around.

Average pace: 8:14

Did more yoga in the evening.

Easy recovery run this morning.  Ran with Jenny for the first 4 miles then returned home to get just over 5 for the morning.

Average pace: 8:51

Finally did an upper body workout after the run.  I think I'm getting back on track.

Also, in the evening did another yoga workout from the Yoga Journal 21 day challenge

Jenny is doing them also. I think I'm getting some more kinks worked out, hopefully I'll stick with it.

Had to do some improvising on today's run.  I met Dixie at our usual spot and we were going to start out running our usual route, then add some more on later.  I was supposed to do 12 miles and he was going to do between 10 and 12 with me.  I forgot my garmin, and he also forgot his so we would have to guess on the mileage between time, effort, and knowing various point to point distances.

It was also a bit cold, not quite as cold as the day after Christmas run, but pretty close.  Wind was from the north, so we headed south and then would turn off the main road and cut through neighborhoods for protection from the wind.

Stopped at the Y about 5 miles into the run for an unscheduled pit stop, then got going again.  We ran through Lansbrook and stopped very briefly at the lake park for a sip of water then continued North.

Back to the car, where we estimated just under 10 miles.  Dixie had to go, so I continued north up the trail along Eastlake road for about 1.25 mile, wind was really hitting me pretty hard and cutting right through my thin gloves.  Then, once I turned around, it was as if I had imagined the whole thing and the air felt quite nice.

Average pace: 8:55

Foot problem with my right big toe was a back a little bit, need to keep those laces extra loose for a while longer.

Did another Yoga routine in the evening, about 20 minutes long.

I slept in a bit and didn't get going until a bit after 6:30.  Actually, I was up earlier, waking up when Jenny woke up for her twelve mile run but decided to get back in bed for a few minutes, which turned into a few more minutes than planned.

I felt great on the run without my oftentimes slower start.  Went a little faster than prescribed recovery run pace but I wanted to enjoy the easy feeling by not trying to adjust the pace up or down.

Average pace: 8:05

Cool but not cold morning.  Met up with Dixie, Raj, and Raj's friend Mike 6:00 am in Coachman park in Clearwater.   Got going pretty quickly, up the helix onto the Clearwater bridge and towards the beach.  Great morning for a run.  Especially wonderful view of the waterfront from the top of the Sand Key bridge.  Headed south a few miles then turned left towards the mainland and over the Belleair bridge.  Stopped at the Belleair town hall to use the water fountain and bathrooms there.  Talked to a few other runs, one of whom trained with Dixie 10 years ago getting ready for the Disney Marathon.

Headed up north a little bit farther until I was almost at 10 miles (near the Belleair country club golf course), said good bye to the guys and turned back the way I came (they were just doing a 13 mile loop course).

Felt pretty good for the next 3 miles, then felt tired and had difficulty keeping the pace.  Stopped briefly, stretched, relaxed, then kept going and soon felt better.

Felt good on the final ascent back up the Clearwater and managed to pick up the pace even more on the way back down.

The run felt a little rough at times, but it was a great morning, had some running buddies for 10 miles, and things could have been much worse.

Average pace: 8:15

Ran with Dixie at the hilly neighborhood.  Got rained on for the last 2 miles but it wasn't so bad.  Did 10 sloshy strides toward the end of the run.

Average pace: 8:44

Did a bit less than planned, was feeling in need of a cut back, so I went from a scheduled 12 to just over 9.  Ran with Jenny for most of it.

Average pace: 8:42

Ran with Jenny in the neighborhood.  Nice, easy run with warmer temperatures, back to sleeveless shirt this morning!

Average pace: 8:53

PM - did my Wii yoga routine (instead of doing the longer video I was supposed to do for the yoga 21 day challenge).

Ran with the Striders at Longleaf this morning at 5:25, which I haven't done in quite a long time.  Saw lots of people I knew as well as lots of new people, there were over 30 runners, quite a difference from how these Thursday runs started with 7 or 8 people meeting at David's house.

At various time this morning I ran with Alex, Eudair, and Diane.  Jackie and a sizable contingent of her PHCC cross country team was there.

Started out faster than I usually do (8:08 first mile), kept a faster pace, did one mile about 7 minute pace, followed by some cool down during which Alex, Diane, and I got yelled out by someone who said we were too loud for them since their windows are open.  I didn't think we were being that loud.

Average pace: 7:45

It was raining so I went to the Y, ran on the treadmill for 4.25, outside for about 3 (no garmin), some strides back on treadmill for 1.25 miles.

Average pace: 7:44

Had time for a couple quick sets of leg extensions.

All things considered, this race turned out pretty well.

It was a bit cold at the start, about 37 degrees, which makes this possibly the coldest race I have done so far.  Jenny and I were going to both run it and the kids were going to hang out in the car, but due to the cold temps, Jenny agreed to stay back with the kids.

Arrived at the start fairly early (about 6:10), but not quite early enough to avoid the lines at the packet pick up.  Got my stuff then had time for a little over a 1 mile warmup (about 1.2 miles I think).  Was slow at first, but felt better after the warm up.  But, time had run out and they were already playing the national anthem just before the wheelchair start.  I was stripping out of the long pants and extra long sleeve shirt and was having trouble untying and retying my shoes.

Made it to the start with just a couple of minutes to spare.  First mile felt pretty good. It's uphill for a couple of sections, ending at the top of the Clearwater Memorial Bridge.  The excitement of the start makes this first mile feel easy.   Also, at about 0.5 miles into the race I saw Jenny and the boys cheering for me.  I wasn't expecting them to be there, would not have blamed them for wanting to keep warm inside the car!  So, that was extra nice to see them.  The next mile starts off with with the downhill on the other side of the bridge.  Also, an easy mile.

Then, things felt hard for miles 3 and 4.  My pace slipped and I didn't have a lot of fight in me.

Just before the start of the Sand Key Bridge I was passed by a girl with a white long sleeved top on.  I passed her back as we climbed the bridge, then she blew by my on the way down the bridge.

Taking a right hand turn into Sand Key Park I was greeted by the cheering of at least 20 of the Striders (my running group), who were manning the aid station which served miles 4.5, 6, and 9.  What a huge morale boost!  Helped bring some of the fight back into me and got me kick started again.

Inside Sand Key park, there was a turn that wasn't well marked, so I followed what everyone else was doing.  I thought about going the longer route but was afraid I would be wrong and would end up being way far behind.  Ok, couldn't worry about it too much, just keep going.

I had some good miles after that, but never quite caught up to anyone for quite some time.

Just after the 7 mile point was the turnaround where it got tough for a few miles due to the wind from the north.  The wind slowed me down and my hopes of doing well started to fade again

Finally about mile 9, I crossed the street and then headed back up Sand Key Bridge.  On the corner were the Striders, giving me one more boost to finish the race. I made some headway finally on catching up to the girl in the white top.

When I reached the top of the bridge I willed myself to look to the left, out over the Gulf of Mexico and look right over the intra-coastal waterway.  What a wonderful view!  I wanted to remember this from the race.

Once I got to the bottom of the bridge the wind was not so bad even though I had to head north for a little bit longer.

As I approached the causeway back toward the mainland and the last bridge ascent up over the Clearwater Memorial Bridge I finally caught up to the girl and was able to pass her.

The next couple of miles went pretty well, held them just under a 7:00 pace until I got to the base of the bridge.

Did pretty well going up the bridge then found some speed as I headed down the bridge including the helix near the bottom.  Jenny and the boys were at the bottom cheering once more.  Kicked it in the final quarter mile.  A bit worried about getting passed again, so that helped me keep up my pace.

Talked to a few of the guys that finished ahead of me who also ended up with a short course.  Then talked to one more person who was not short as they managed to get the runners routed correctly.  I felt bad about this but there wasn't much that I could do about it at the time.

 The most inspiring part of the morning was the story that Jenny told me about waiting for me at the bottom of the bridge.  She was waiting there with a rough idea of my expected finish time.  She saw some of the runners who usually run about my speed (and sometimes I even beat some of them), go by and worried a bit.  She said to the boys "Maybe he quit?", and my oldest son Andy said "Dad's not a quitter".

Here's a picture of me taken by David (from the Striders) as I was heading into Sand Key Park.

Splits - 

1.  6:53 - pretty standard, 6:40ish until ascent
2.  6:47 (+:14) - downhill, 1st bridge descent, mile marker off
3.  7:02 - didn't hold onto pace
4.  7:16 - pace slipped some more
5.  6:52 - got passed by girl, ascent up Sand Key bridge, descent
6.  6:47 - in Sand Key park, trying to catch girl
7.  6:45 - out to turn around feeling good
8.  7:15 - turned around into wind, girl slipping away, spirits sinking
9.  7:09 - boost from Striders, a little faster
10. 7:20 - closed gap at top of bridge w/ girl
11. 6:57 - caught up to girl and passed her
12. 6:57 - held steady
13. 6:38  (0.93) - last climb up bridge, down helix, finish!!

After the race, I wanted to hang out for a bit but the family and I were getting kind of cold and I started coughing and was worried that the lingering cough that I had thought was finally gone was going to come back.

Recovery run.  Ran with Jenny in the neighborhood.  Felt very stiff and a bit sore at the start but loosened up as the run progressed.  Felt pretty good at the end.

Average pace: 9:14

Successful upper body better-than-nothing workout along with a few simple leg exercises.

Ran with Jenny.  First did a two mile warm up and then ran next to her for her tempo run of 5 miles.  We took a short break, ran with her for about another mile and then did the rest by myself.

Was tired (in a good way) at the end and managed a 7:28 last mile.

Average pace: 8:13

I was slightly dreading this run at first but realized it wasn't so bad once finished.  Hopefully I'm getting used to these mid-week medium long runs.    I seem to have bounced back from Sunday's race.

PM - did a little bit of yoga in the evening, not really a full routine, just a few moves.

It was raining again this morning, kind of medium, definitely more than a sprinkle.  Headed over to the Y to at least start on the treadmill and then check the conditions after a few miles.

Did 4.5 miles on the treadmill at just under an 8:00 pace.  The run felt pretty good and went surprisingly quick for a treadmill run.

Looked outside, still dark, some wind, but barely any rain at all.  Felt a little chilled at first despite being warmed up.  Did another 6.65 miles outside to get over 11 miles for the day.

Average pace: 7:48

I think I might actually make it through this week!

Went to Longleaf and ran with the Striders. Got there a little early and did a mile by myself, then ran with the group for a few more miles. Dropped off one shirt, took a gel then did 5 mile tempo run (6:42, 6:49, 6:52, 6:52, 6:37). Cool down after, ran with Eudair for a bit.  I had tried to catch her for part of my tempo run but she got too far ahead of me when I was stopped and must have been hitting a pretty good pace.

Average pace: 7:40

Started out with a big group, Jenny and her friends. Ran a few miles with them before splitting off and finished up with a few strides at the end.

I felt really good this morning.  I was thinking that I would be in a little rougher shape by this time this week with the race on Sunday and a pretty demanding week.  So, I'm pretty thankful for getting through ok.  Just one more run.

Average pace: 8:30

Longest training run ever (for me). Perfect morning for running (41 degrees at the start to low 50's at the end, no wind). Felt tired about half way into it but just kept going. Ran from my house, up Starkey Blvd. into Starkey Park and then back home. Kicked in the last mile at 6:40.

Average pace: 7:49

In the morning I met Dixie at the usual spot, but we ran south instead of north.  Looped down past the Y and over to the Lansbrook lake park then back to the starting point.  I felt pretty good but my pace was a lot slower than it felt.  At least I didn't feel slow!

Average pace: 9:16

After I got home, did my upper body better than nothing workout along with a couple of leg exercises.

P.M.  3.5 miles on the treadmill at the Y on my way home from work.  I listened to an audio book while running.  Kept the pace pretty steady and it felt easy. 

Average pace: 8:30