The Long Run

7.35 mi, 1:11:25, 9:43 avg

After what seemed like forever, I ran again this morning.  I can't believe it was only two days off, but it has been some time since more than one day off.

Ran with Jamie in the neighboorhood, starting at 8:00.  Legs were feeling stiff and tired at the start but by the end were just a little bit tired feeling.  Also, can't believe how warm it felt after being reminded what cold and snow feels like.

Nice to get that first run of the  year finally done.

11.75 mi, 1:51:48, 9:31 avg

Left my house just after 5:00 and met Joe by the back gate about 5:10 and waited a couple of minutes just in case Jamie showed up.  Then we continued on to Longleaf, stopped for the group picture and ran up Starkey Blvd another 3ish miles before heading back.  Stopped for coffee and another picture before heading back home.  

After getting back home, walked Stella on a "business" trip, and then ran her for about 1.5 miles.  She's gotten really good at not pulling on the leash when we run.  But, a little bit of pulling with the waist leash was kind of nice.

Joe and I were nearly run over twice.  The first time we were approaching the entrance to the self storage place where a guy with his big pickup truck pulling a trailer was waiting to pull out.  He had a passenger and the window was rolled down.  Joe made eye contact but apparently with just the passenger, we were both wearing lights (Joe was wearing two).  The traffic cleared just as we were in front of the truck and the driver started to pull out slowly (probably good thing there he was towing a trailer otherwise he might have pulled out faster).  Joe yelled and the driver stopped and yelled out a "sorry" as we continued on.

The early morning traffic consists of big groups of cars riding each other's bumpers followed by a period of empty street.  If I see a big gap I like to cross the road.  But, the right way to do it of course is at the intersection.  Unfortunately, crossing at the intersection is guaranteed to have cars stacked up in at least one direction.  We got to the Duck Slough and 54 light, waited for the walk signal, then started to cross.  Made it across the west bound lanes ok, then as we were covering the next set of lanes, I could see a car barelling down the right hand turn lane which was clear.  With all of the cars in the two through lanes she had no idea we were there.  As we approached I was telling Joe (loud enough to be heard above the traffic) "this car doesn't have a clue".  She saw us at the last second and had her window down and could hear me.   She hit the brakes and also heard me yelling "doesn't have a clue" and looked worried how close she came to running us over when she had the red light.  Cars have not been stopping first before turning right on red if they see that traffic the other way is held off - but not thinking about pedestrians, bicyclists, and older people on those electric scooters.  Following the law and crossing properly at the cross walk is not safe at this intersection.

9.01 mi, 1:24:41, 9:24 avg

Ran with Joe and Jamie in the neighborhood.  Decent weather and legs slowly feeling better.

10.12 mi, 1:33:07, 9:12 avg

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders starting at 5:30.  Stuck with Daisy today,  We ran out and back on Starkey Blvd and into Aristide neighborhood, then after a short break back at the parking lot, ran a loop through Longleaf.  It was chilly this morning, and although I was feeling run down when I first woke up the run went pretty well, until I got home and felt run down again so took about a 30 minute nap which seemed to help.

5.12 mi, 56:09, 10:57

First day back after a long unscheduled break due to being sick.  I usually run through any sort of minor caughs/colds and if I take it easy it even seems to help.  After last Thursday's, by Friday morning I felt poorly enough that I would take the morning off running.  I didn't run that evening and by Saturday morning felt horrible, worse on Sunday and was pretty sure I'd have to call in sick on Monday.  But, by Monday morning I was mobile again and felt normal but took the extra sleep over running.  I got a little bit better each day and on Thursday morning's dog walk felt like I could have run but still didn't.  Friday morning was similar.  Finally, I had to break to not feeling well and not running cycle so I told others I would run Saturday morning.

I went to Starkey park, just missed the big Strider start but was going to run with Ben and a few other guys heading to the off road trails.  My garmin was slow to lock on and I was slow also, so I lost them but did I nice gentle 3 miles on the trails without getting lost and finally reaching the paved bike path which I ran back on for another 2 miles.

Met at Panera with Keith, Ed, Greg, Jammie, and Victoria for some catching up.

6.01 mi, 56:22, 9:23 avg

Better run today than yesterday and it didn't feel bad at all.  Jamie was back from Buffalo but Daisy wanted to run 18 miles, so they started at 5:30 and then came by my house at 7:00.  We ran out to the new park and did a couple of loops around the lake then came back.

2.07 mi, 21:26, 10:20 avg

Better, but still not feeling great and not in any hurry, slept in a little bit and went for a run just long enough to clear out morning congestion and give Stella some much needed exercise.

3.09 mi, 31:52, 10:18 avg

Another mostly decongestion run.  Did 1.7 miles by myself (neighborhood loop), then stopped at the house for Stella and we did about another 1.3 miles.

5.5 mi, 55:22, 10:04 avg

Almost felt normal on this morning's run.  Ran with Jamie and noticed a lot less sinus pressure.

5.04 mi, 46:56, 9:18 avg

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders.  Ran out with Keith and Joe and turned back with Keith.  Had coffee and a muffin at Havana Dreamer's with Keith, Patrick and Bret.  Nice to sit and talk for a bit.

I was feeling about 90% normal on this morning's run.

12.13 mi, 1:55:30, 9:32 avg

Ran with Joe, Jamie, and Daisy on the Courtney Campbell Causeweay.  This was my first time ever running there and it was quite nice.  I didn't feel good at the start of the run - legs very tired feeling but felt good once we got to the turn around point.  There was a nice breeze on the way back which kept us cool despite the sun coming up.  Very grateful to be back to running over 10 miles finally.

After we got back from our run, we were looking at a group of people about 100 feet offshore on standup paddle boards doing yoga - looked quite challenging.  As we were watching that, a woman came by and asked if we had jumper cables, which Jamie did have and I hooked them up and got her on her way.  She had gotten there early to watch the sunrise and pray, which apparently worked.

6.72 mi, 59:31, 8:51 avg

Ran 5 miles out and back from my house.  First mile was kind of slow (10:26), then I didn't want to go slow anymore but it's not a speed day so I went a little bit faster and next few miles were under 9:00.

Stopped back at the house and leashed up Stella.  We did the neighborhood loop together (1.7 miles) at about an 8:45 pace.  Stella was happy.

7.5 mi, 1:02:15, 8:18 avg

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders.  Easy warm up for about 2 miles, then mixed in some fartleks running between various landmarks.  

First one was 0.38 miles at 6:42 pace, then 0.41 @ 6:36, 0.40 @ 6:31, and finally 0.74 @ 6:26.  The last one felt extremely hard.

So, not fully back yet to where I was but it was good to mix up the pace.

After the fartleks and a short cool down, picked it up for the last mile to 7:22 to finish up the run.

Run1: 5.15 mi, 48:44, 9:28 avg, HR 127 avg 137 max

Ran out and back from my house, solo.  Wanted to see where heart rate was.  Fortunately, pretty much average more or less.  Slow start warm up first mile, then got a little bit faster with remaining miles 9:15-9:25 and staying in 121-131 range.

Got back home, woke the boys, walked Sammy and Stella, then took Stella out for neighborhood loop;

Run2: 1.77 mi, 17:12, 9:45 avg

With Stella.

6.35 mi, 57:39, 9:05 avg

I had planned on trying a short tempo run - 4 miles at 6:50ish pace.  After 2.6 mile warm up, started out ok on pace but wasn't feeling ready.  I ran into Anthony and Diane coming towards me and decided to just turn around with them.  They were doing about a 7:40 to 8:00ish pace.  I ran with them and it felt much easier and was still at least faster than "in between" pace and actually sort of marathon pace with last mile about 7:20.

6.58 mi, 1:02:01, 9:25 avg

Ran with Joe and Jamie.  Joe turned back a little bit early as he had started earlier and already had some miles in before meeting us.  Weather was pretty decent.

13.34 mi, 2:05:45, 9:26

Met up with Joe, Jamie, and Daisy near the neighborhood's back gate then ran onto SR54 then up Starkey Blvd and into Aristide. Turned around and came back to get Jamie back home in time for her family stuff.  On the run up we tried to help a woman who's car had stalled on the corner and the battery had died.  We couldn't push her off to the side because it wouldn't shift into neutral (later looked up where to find the secret button).  But fortunately a guy came by with jumper cables and got her started.

Weather was nice and crisp with the temperature dropping a few degrees as the morning went on - glad I wore my hat.

After the run I stopped by Havana Dreamers and ended up seeing Big Steve (who I hadn't seen since Utah Valley Marathon) and his friend Richie and his wife Carol.

5.15 mi, 44:02, 8:33 avg

Had some trouble getting motivated to get out of bed, but finally managed to get going.  Did 4 miles by myself out and back to Trinity Blvd, then came home and picked up Stella and did just over a mile with her, just under 8:00 pace.

8.12 mi, 1:06:37, 8:11 avg

Ran at Longleaf with the Striders.  I made it just in time for the group picture.  Ran easy for about two miles then started doing 5x1k repeats.  It was cold and dark and I'm still on my way back up from some lost fitness, so the first repeat was signicantly slower than the 4:00 time I wanted (4:17), but then the rest were pretty close and two were a little under.  However, the last one, where I thought I could give it my all and pull ahead was kind of a struggle and I felt I was giving it all I had.

So, 1k splits:  4:17, 4:00, 3:53, 3:59, 4:03

After a mile easy, I picked up the last 0.53 miles to 7:15 pace.

Not the easiest run and did not make time goals but I found out where I was at and survived the cold and did a workout with a purpose.