The Long Run

8.43@8:26 (1:11:11)

8 miles plus strides after sleeping in a little bit (started at 11:00).  Wasn't up too late last night but the extra rest did help.  Ran the Pinellas Trail by way of the Delaware Ave crosswalk and then heading north.  Strides were done near the house in front of the park.

Long run steps up to 18 miles tomorrow including to sets of MP segments (6 miles and 5 miles)

18.04@8:10 pace (2:27:25)

Stepping up to 18 miles.  A little bit worried about this run going to 18 miles with two sets of marathon pace miles.  Workout plan was 4 EZ, 6@MP, 1 EZ, 5@MP, 2 EZ, with MP being about a 7:45 pace (7:51 to just get by, a little faster if I feel really good).   I was wanting to run at Starkey Park but the water situation there is not ideal with no coolers, just what you can carry, or could do Starky Blvd (with a water drop someplace) or loop through Starkey Ranch.  Finally decided on Pinellas Trail.  It's a pretty fun place to run, but if not starting out extra early it gets busy with walkers, roller bladers, cyclists ranging from serious to super casual and then there are people on "contraptions" - recumbent bikes, recumbent tricycles, electrified bikes and scooters, those hoverboard things.

So, first part, 4 EZ was run from WLV to the trail heading south to the water fountain at Curlew (was actually just past 4).  Grabbed some water from the fountain then north I went.  At 5 1/2 miles I was about a half mile north of the train tunnel, turned around to make it 6 miles and was near the water fountain outside of Wall Springs Park.  First set splits: 7:48, 7:36, 7:42, 7:33, 7:39, 7:35.

So, that was a big relief, over half way done now.  But, it was warming up.  68 degrees and humid for the start (felt nice standing still but you could feel it warming up after just a mile of easy running).  Finished the easy mile and got going again (but just before that saw father-in-law Andy on roller blades and said hi for a few seconds).

Headed south about 3 miles, then turned back north so I'd end near the crosswalk to head back home (I had a bottle stashed there).  I got through the miles but it wasn't a real feel-good experience, just ok do the job.  Splits: 7:45, 7:44, 7:48, 7:35, 7:35

And then finally, the last two "easy" miles back home.  The final mile went along nicely and was actually at 7:53 which is pretty close to MP pace goal.

Overall good 18 mile experience wrapping up 63 miles for the week.

7.31@8:44 (1:03:48)

Start of week 14, 7 miles easy followed by some strides.  Ran from Westlake Village over to the Pinellas trail by way of Delaware Ave.  Headed north to reach about 3.5 miles then turned back.  On the way back it felt like the shoe laces on my left foot were too tight and digging into my foot (I once made the mistake of ignoring this, tendons were not happy) so I stopped and loosened.

When I got back to the house, did some of the strides, but was feeling like something was off (also was not hitting the usual speed for these), so did 4 out of the 6.

8.02mi@7:54 (1:03:23)

Scheduled workout was 6x1k @6:47 pace, followed by 3x400m @6:25 along with warm up and cool down.

I ran from WLV to the Pinellas Trail, on my way there I was feeling a little bit sluggish, not tired or achey, just slower (11:11 for the first mile, at least a minute slower than what I've recently been runnning for a warm up mile).  I was also feeling a little bummed out, having just found out that my Uncle Dan passed away yesterday.  He'd been sick for some time and not doing well, but still sad for it to finally happen.  Many fond memories from growing up and into adulthood.  He loved to cook and was somewhat of a Mr Clean but loved his kids, nephews and nieces, and grandkids and everyone in the family.

So, the first repeat was a struggle, instead of a 6:47 pace was a 7:07 pace and that was after a valiant attempt at the end (was hovering near 7:30 for most of it).  Thought about calling it off, maybe switching with tomorrow.  But, no try just one more.  Next one was a lot better, same amount of effort but faster.  Bargained with myself to get through, at least do 5 of them and then maybe 2 out of the 3 400's at the end.

So, the 5 1k repeat paces ended up at: 7:07, 6:40, 6:37, 6:26, 6:37

On the last two especially I felt like I finally had an efficient stride, like I was gliding rather then clunking along.

After doing the first of the 400's, decided they were too good to pass up so did all three:

5:56, 6:02, 6:06 for the paces.

The jog back felt good.  The paces were there, I just needed to not give up.

5.04@8:45

Ran from Foxwood on my new favorite loop.  Scheduled easy run day.

10.09@8:46 (1:28:35)

Mid-week medium long run, from WLV then cut through Eniswood, over to the Pinellas Trail, then headed south.  I was trying not to push the pace but probably wasn't going slow enough to count this as easy.  At the same time I didn't feel like I could go faster.  It's a dangerous pace because you want to go faster to see if you can without actually trying to run a specific pace.

I also started probably 20 minutes later than  I should have so Jessica was not able to get to body combat, she said it was ok.

6.47@8:41

Today was another easy day run (but with strides added at the end).  Did the Lake Dan run - out and back from Foxwood then down the new trail until hitting 3 miles before turning around.

Strides today felt a lot better than Monday, did all 6 this time.

Another 18 mile run tomorrow with 4 tempo miles near the end.

18.12@8:17 (2:29:58)

Long run with 4 Tempo miles near the end, followed by 2 "easy"miles one of which turned into more of marathon pace.  Ran from my house, then over to Starkey Blvd via SR54.  This took me a little bit into Starkey Park to reach the turnaround point at 9 miles.  First mile was decent at 9:50, then next at 9:02 then in the 8's until the hard part starting at mile 13.  Mile 12 I did slow down a little bit to get ready for the tempo portion.  I ended up not running it straight through, felt pretty clunky.  I should have just kept going, but I stopped and then started going again.  So, second half (about 2.8 miles) was much faster.  

The tempo miles: 7:21, 7:08, 7:00, 6:52

Going into the last tempo mile I felt really good, although toward the end I was struggling to hang on but wanted to finish under 7:00 (even though not really on the plan).

Next mile was easy and as I got closer to home picked it up and did last mile at 7:46 which unlike the last tempo mile felt somewhat effortless.

5.48@8:58

5 easy miles plus  6x100m strides at the end.  Did my new favorite loop from Foxwood.

I was about 9:12 pace when I finished the easy miles and the strides brought the pace to 8:58 average.

10.07@7:46, 1:18:12

Today was a long tempo, with 1 mile warmup, 8 miles at tempo pace, then one mile cooldown.  These are tough for me to get going, but if I can tough outthe first part I end up doing ok.

I felt way off, not hitting goal pace and was getting frustrated so took a brief break 1.2 miles into the tempo portion.  Got going again, this time it was better.  I told myself I'd at least keep going until the turnaround point.  I made that ok and ended up going one more mile, before another short break.  Got going again and made it through.  Paces improved throughout the run, but it wasn't quite the workout it was suppposed to be.  Still a good workout, felt strong at the end.

Tempo miles: 7:55 (hurting), 7:44(better), 7:27, 7:23, 7:19, 7:11, 7:21, 7:10

The "jog" home for the last mile felt easy even though it was actually 7:55 pace.

Run was on the Pinellas Trail from Westlake Village via Eniswood neighborhood.

4.12@8:52, 36:33

Short and easy run today in Westlake Village and up and down Alderman, running in the t-shape pattern

8.05@8:19 , 1:06:59

Mid week medium long run during cutback week so "just" 8 miles.  Ran it a little bit fast - should have been more like 8:45 to 9:15 pace.  Ran on Pinellas Trail from WLV via the crosswalk near the high school on Delaware St, or maybe the "Delaware crossing"

3.46@8:34

Ran in Westlake Village, one somewhat Texas shaped loop.  This was a little bit short of my mileage goal but Jessica had a dental appointment to try and save a disintegrating tooth.  I'll still be pretty close or right on the weekly mileage goal with the little random extra distances.

16.05@8:18, 2:13:09

Long run Saturday, from my house, a little on SR54, and then Starkey Blvd into Starkey Park until reaching 8 miles, then turning back.  Supposed to be all easy miles but ended picking up the pace last 5 miles between 7:55 and 7:25.  The faster miles were good but this might come back to haunt me for not holding the pace easy enough.

6.23@8:34

Ran in Westlake Village doing a couple of loops around inside the neighborhood.  Today is an 8 mile day but I decided to break this up into two runs because I didn't get up early enough before getting ready to go to Busch Gardens, however as it turned out I could have finished up the miles since not everyone was ready to go after I got back.

PM - 2.65@8:50

On the way back from Busch Gardens stopped off at a doctor appointment for one of the kids.  I finished up the miles nearby, route was down McMullen Booth Road and then back and forth over that pedestrian bridge that's part of the Ream Wilson Clearwater Trail (I've always wanted to run over that bridge).

Just now realized it came out to 8.88 miles

9.03@7:42, 1:09:37

Workout of the day 2x3 mi at "tempo" pace, then 1 more mile at tempo pace with three minute rest between sets. There was also a 1 mile warmup and 1 mile cool down.

Did the run looping inside of Westlake Village.

Hard for me to get on pace the first couple of miles, but mile 3 of the first set was good at 7:11.

Next set was better and then the lone mile at the end was 6:45

Set 1: 7:56, 7:39, 7:11

Set 2: 7:28, 7:05, 7:04

Last mile: 6:45

Overall was a really good run especially the last 3 fast miles. Hoping to get back to running more than 1 sub-7:00 mile in a row and eventually back down to sub-20:00 5k's, but this is good for now as long as I can keep moving in that direction.

14.13@8:07

Ran up Starkey Blvd into Starkey Park.  Felt good today and ended up going faster than last week's long run which was supposed to be at a faster pace than this week.  First 5 miles were easy, then next couple were just slower than 8:00, with the last 7 miles all under 8:00.

It was also a pretty nice day.